Case Study

WA Primary Health Alliance

How do you help vulnerable people get the right mental help?

See how we helped WAPHA expand access to better care

Mental illness is one of our biggest health problems, with 20 per cent of Australians experiencing it at some time.

But the methods used by the primary health care sector to tackle mental illness have struggled to keep up with demand.

In this campaign, we were privileged to work alongside the WA Primary Health Alliance, charged by the Federal Government with finding a new way to expand and extend the support for people with mild to moderate mental illness — things like depression, anxiety and substance abuse.

What’s the challenge?

Health policy is complicated, and the new model replaced several existing programs, each with their own rules.

There were patients to contact, service providers to inform, and differences between the State and Federal system that needed to be explained.

There was also the risk that misunderstanding could have increased the anxiety of patients.

We knew two-thirds of those people were not getting help, but also that early intervention could make an enormous difference in their lives.

Purple helped WAPHA launch a complex, far-reaching change in the health system known as Integrated Primary Mental Health Care, which helps more people access mental health care when needed.

Our approach

Our role was to communicate change with clarity – and that’s what we did.

Working closely with WAPHA, including on an embedded basis, we were able to speak to the key stakeholders and capture their voices, and present a clear model that could be described to each group.

We used simple visuals, concrete analogies, and easy language, and we brought the various stakeholders on board by showing how clarity could achieve their vision of a healthier WA.

Our results

Change without confusion.

Our communications efforts touched every group, from patients to GPs, medical authorities to schools, psychologists to government leaders.

By providing a clear, consistent message that outlined the benefits, changes and implementation process, we were able to bring different groups on board.

We used briefing meetings, workshops, presentations, and visual elements to demonstrate the changes to key stakeholders, using feedback and responses to continually update our efforts in response to any change in perception.

After a four-month campaign, the new model has been rolled out in GPs across Western Australia, the language has been adopted as part of referrals and — most importantly — thousands of people who might otherwise have missed out on help are now getting the care they need.

Thousands of people who might otherwise have missed out on help are now getting the care they need.

THE OUTCOME