Community Development Project (CDP)

THE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION PACKAGES

The Curriculum Development Education Packages (CDEP) were developed as part of the Community Development Project (CDP), an initiative of the National Mental Health Strategy. The CDEP modules are based on the findings of an 18 month national consultation process undertaken by the Mental Health Council of Australia.

The CDEP Modules have been specifically designed and developed to provide educational guidelines to enable increased consumer and carer participation in the Australian mental health sector. The CDEP consist of five education and training modules to be used as stand alone tools or in conjunction with The Kit - A guide to the advocacy we choose to do , which is a resource kit for consumers of mental health services and their carers.

The aim of the CDEP Modules is to allow consumer and carer representatives to improve both their individual advocacy and have the resources to educate other potential consumer and carer advocates.

THE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION PACKAGES INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING FIVE MODULES:

MODULE 1: Effective Communication - Introduction and Practice

MODULE 2: Working in a Formal Group Setting - Procedure and Practice

MODULE 3: Preparing Yourself, Becoming Assertive

MODULE 4: Information - Building a Base for Advocacy and Activism

MODULE 5: Advocacy and Activism - Getting Started

THE KIT: A GUIDE TO THE ADVOCACY WE CHOOSE TO DO

A Resource Kit for Consumers of Mental Health Services and Family Carers

The Kit was developed by the Community Develoment Project (CDP). The CDP was a major national project that ran over 12 months during 1997 and 1998.

The goal of the CDP was to enhance advocacy activity through increasing knowledge and strengthening skills within the mental health community sector. The strategy for achievieng this goal was to identify required knowledge and skills, provide opportunity to acquire skills, and create advocacy resources to support consumers and carers to undertake activities which promote sustainable change, particularly in promoting positive attitudes and addressing negative perceptions about people with mental illness.

The Kit holds a lot of information, as it was developed to appeal to the different learning styles of readers and the different goals people may have in using the materials. The resources in The Kit were developed with the clear view that they would be a foundation resource. The Kit contains information about systems, attitudes, experiences, skills and strategies.

THE KIT PDF FILES:

THE KIT: A guide to the advocacy we choose to do, has been split up into the following sections for easy viewing and downloading:

Contents and Introduction

Contents/Foreword/Introduction/How to Use.pdf

Knowledge and Attitudes Booklet

Skills, Strategies and Tools

Bibliography and Index

Glossary, Bibliography, and Index.pdf