Wallet Card Project

On World mental Health Day, 10 October, Eastern Health launched the "Rotary Centenary Emergency Department Mental Health Consumer Information Card" (known as the ‘Wallet Card’).

This is an updated, hard-copy resource for people accessing the Emergency Department when experiencing a mental health crisis.

In celebration of Rotary's centenary in Australia, all Rotary Clubs in Whitehorse joined together and partnered with Bendigo Bank Blackburn South Community Bank Branch to support the “Wallet Card Project” at Eastern Health.

"This project will assist people in crisis who attend Eastern Health Emergency Departments during a mental health episode who may be disorientated, vulnerable and often feeling they have nowhere to go," says Associate Professor Judy Hope, a Medical Practitioner and Consultant Psychiatrist at Eastern Health.

For those people, navigating the mental health system can be challenging, with some having very limited access to internet or a smartphone, and many lacking financial independence and adequate social support.

As a consequence, after they leave the Emergency Department, some people may not access the community services available that provide support and healing. As Assoc. Prof Hope explains, "our Wallet Card Project is designed to help people experiencing mental health crisis to understand what services are available to them, not just when they come to the Emergency Department, but more importantly, once they've left."

In our three Emergency Departments across the east of Melbourne, being Angliss, Box Hill, and Maroondah Hospital, we see over 7,000 people with mental health issues each year.

In the midst of a personal crisis, of a mental health crisis, it can be really hard to think and to problem solve, and to figure out what to do next.

What is a 'Wallet Card'?

The idea of the Wallet Card is that once people leave us, that they have a tangible resource they can store in their wallet, to find where they need to be. They don't walk out of the Emergency Department feeling alone.

"We'd really like to thank our local community for supporting us in this project, and in many other projects that we deliver at Eastern Health.

"Thank YOU for helping to improve the health of our community, meet social needs, and make sure that we have a strong healthy community.” says Assoc. Prof Hope All Whitehorse Rotary Clubs are proud to support Eastern Health in this important community mental health project. The Rotary Clubs involved are Box Hill, Burwood, Box Hill Central, Nunawading, Mont Albert and Surrey Hills, Forest Hill, Mitcham, the New Gen Rotary Club, and the Rotaract Club of Whitehorse.14

‘I would like to commend the Rotary and Rotaract Clubs of Whitehorse for providing both physical and financial support for this vital mental health project. At a time when Melbourne has experienced prolonged periods of lockdown and the normal patterns and rhythms of life have been greatly disrupted, issues related to mental health come to prominence. The Wallet Card Project provides a very practical and simple way of providing assistance to those in need and gives a splendid example of Rotary clubs serving to change lives.’

PDG Dr Daryl Moran