Official opening of the Women's Only Area in Alfred Psychiatry

The official opening of the Women's Only Area in Alfred Psychiatry, and launch of the Service Guideline on Gender Sensitivity and Safety took place at the Alfred Centre on Thursday 8th September 2011.

The new facilities and guidelines were launched by The Honourable Mary Wooldridge MP, Minister for Mental Health, Women’s Affairs and Community Services.

Professor Jayashri Kulkarni, Director of the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc) has worked in the area of Women's Mental Health research for many years and has been a driving force behind addressing the problems of privacy and security for female patients managed in mixed sex wards.

Professor Kulkarni was part of the committee which developed the new “Service Guideline of Gender Sensitivity and Safety” which will be provided to Victorian hospitals within the next few weeks. It was during this work with the Department of Health that Professor Kulkarni secured funding for capital works to build a "women’s only area" in a psychiatry ward of the Alfred Hospital.

The new Women’s Only Area has been a welcome addition from consumer advocate groups and other women’s mental health organisations.

Minister Wooldridge comments “women were too often subjected to abuse in what should be a safe environment, and the new five-bed Alfred unit with its own living area and courtyard was an example of changes that could be made at other hospitals.

This is an excellent example of how a MAPrc research project translated into direct clinical practice change.