Consumer consultant pioneer honoured at launch of new District Mental Health Research Institute
 

Mental Health research within Sydney Local Health District is entering a new era with the launch of the Blüm Institute for Mental Health Research. 

The Institute was launched at the District’s recent Mental Health Research Symposium which this year was held in October to coincide with Mental Health Month. 

Director, Research, Mental Health Service, Conjoint Associate Professor Anne Wand, said researchers within the Mental Health Service were already doing outstanding work but the Institute would enhance opportunities for multi-disciplinary partnerships in research as well as provide a recognisable identity for external partners seeking to collaborate with the Mental Health Service. 

“You are going to get better quality research for consumers if we all work together, particularly with our lived experience peer workers and the Lived Experience Advisory Panel,” Associate Professor Wand said. 

The Blüm Institute for Mental Health Research is named after the late Helen Blüm, the first paid consumer consultant in Australia, who started her career at Rozelle Hospital in the early 1990s. 

“Helen is remembered as a person of integrity and credibility, whose work with consumers created a sense of hope. She lived with a serious mental illness, and through this experience she was a passionate advocate for consumer empowerment, rights and ethics,” said Dr Andrew McDonald, Clinical Director, District Mental Health Service. 

When Helen was employed at Rozelle Hospital in 1992, it was the beginning of the consumer movement. Six other consumer workers joined Helen the following year. 

Helen presented their model of a consumer workforce at the Mental Health Service (TheMHS) conference in Melbourne in 1993, which influenced other states to start their own projects employing peer workers. 

Helen’s son, Gunter Blüm and his partner travelled from Melbourne to attend the launch of the Institute. 

"A couple of weeks ago, completely out of the blue, I got an email saying there might be an institute named after my mother, Helen Blüm. My family and I were blown away — so rapt, so thankful, so humbled,” Gunter said. 

The Institute and the District’s new Mental Health Research Strategic Plan were launched by District Chief Executive Deb Willcox AM. 

“Congratulations to all involved on such important milestones for consumers, their families and loved ones”, Deb said. 

Deb thanked Gunter for accepting the request to name the Institute in his mother’s honour. 

“We all owe a debt to Helen for her pioneering advocacy for consumer empowerment,” Deb said. 

“This Institute will honour her extraordinary contribution. Helen’s legacy inspires us to keep improving mental health care for our consumers.” 

A number of our colleagues were honoured at the Symposium with awards for excellence in mental health research.