The Well Ways Project
The Mental Illness Fellowship Australia family education programs offer information and support to families and friends of people with mental illness. They are comprehensive, current and research based programs that combine:

• practical information about mental illnesses
• Information about the mental health and legal system
• practical frameworks to support people to manage the impact of mental illness on their lives.

Our family to family model offers the unique opportunity to benefit from the compassion, the wisdom and the experience of our family educators.  Well Ways has been developed by the Mental Illness Fellowship Victoria and is continuously evaluated.

We have a range of programs catering to the different needs of individuals and families experiencing the impact of mental illness. To find out more go to the member organisation web-site [click here].

Well Ways - Helping families and friends find better ways.
Well Ways is designed to increase the capacity of families, carers and friends to care effectively for themselves, other family members and their relative living with mental illness.  

The program duration is: 3-hour group sessions run over eight consecutive weeks plus four follow-up workshops over 12 months.

A grant from the Australian Government's Department of Health and Ageing has made possible a roll-out of Mental Illness Fellowship Victoria's Well Ways program to Northern Territory, North Queensland, New South Wales, ACT, Victoria and Tasmania. Contact your nearest office to find out what's available near you:

Comment from one participant

"Well Ways gave me the ability to step back a little and treat my son accordingly and not to get caught up in the sickness. Well Ways is a life-line. Families can reach out and know that they aren't alone."

Well Ways 2004
The project was completed in 2004 and aimed to make a validated course for the well-being of families more widely available in Australia and meet the support and learning needs of carers of people with a mental illness. The report describes the outcome of a train the trainer project to transfer a course designed to optimise the well being of families from the course developers, Mental Illness Fellowship Victoria, and enable other members of the Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia to conduct the course in other states and territories.

Click here to view the final report of the project.