Associate Professor Sharon Lawn has just been appointed South Australian Co-Ordinator of the Private Mental Health Consumer Carer Network.

Many people with mental health problems are reliant on private providers for treatment, and in her new role Associate Professor Lawn will help to improve the service and support they receive.

She said an important part of the Network’s role is to help in overcoming the isolation experienced by people with mental illness, and their families and carers, who receive support in the private system.

She said consumers and carers, especially in rural and remote areas, can be very isolated. While family members often carry the burden of providing practical day-to-day aspects of care, some do not have direct access to the treating psychiatrist or doctor.

The Network organises events such as the recent national forum on borderline personality disorder, held at Flinders University that drew on the results of the first national surveys of people with the illness and their carers.