Stride provides mental health support to Australians aged 16 to 67, with more than 80 offices across the country.
Among the services offered by Stride Bendigo is the Psychosocial Recovery Services program — a free, short-term service focused on supporting people’s personal recovery goals, emotional wellbeing and developing practical life skills.
Stride support worker and member of the Bendigo PRS team Helena Troy said the program aimed to support people early, before mental health challenges escalated.
“Our main target is low to medium mental health ... before it becomes so ingrained and so severe that they need to access psychiatrists. We implement and help them work through practical support,” she said.
“With the low-intensity stuff, often they’re overwhelmed with other things going on in their lives. If we can step in, and we can help them navigate through that (to) feel less burdened, we can relieve some of that pressure.
“We're not there for a long time. We're there for a brief intervention, and we're skilling them up to build their capacity, so they’ve got the resilience to keep moving through life.”
PRS programs play an important role in regional communities, as they are accessible and can be tailored to the unique challenges of regional life such as isolation, limited services and the impacts of natural disasters.
The service can be delivered in the home, online or in community settings, and helps connect people with local groups and services to build sustainable support networks.
The Bendigo PRS team is eager to establish a presence in smaller communities such as Rochester, where there may be unmet needs and limited awareness of the services available.
Although the closest Stride office is located in Bendigo, Ms Troy said not having a physical base in smaller towns could sometimes be beneficial.
“If we have a base, everyone in town knows when they're coming in,” she said.
“We've had real trouble ... getting a footprint in the smaller communities because people don’t want to be seen coming in and accessing help.
“We kind of just get the word out and let people know we’re available, and we can come to you.”
Stride currently provides support across the City of Greater Bendigo, Loddon Campaspe, Mount Alexander and Macedon Ranges.
To access the PRS program, people can contact STRIDE directly on 1300 001 907 or email prs@stride.com.au
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