Hear from Lisa Gott on why community-managed mental health helps people stay connected and recover.
Lisa Gott, Executive Director, Lived Experience Leadership at Flourish Australia, has more than 15 years’ experience working in mental health and lived experience leadership roles across public and community services. Over this time, she has seen how strongly a person’s recovery can depend on whether they are able to keep the foundations of everyday life in place.
“People thrive when they are in their chosen community,” Lisa explains.
Housing insecurity, isolation and the loss of support can make recovery significantly harder. “How are you meant to get well if you don’t have your basic needs met?” she says.
How staying connected supports mental health and wellbeing
Community-based care helps people stay connected to the relationships and routines that support them. Reflecting on her own experiences with anxiety and agoraphobia, Lisa owes much of her recovery to being supported in her community.
“Safety in my world was very important because I had so much fear with what I was experiencing,” she says.
For many people, peer spaces and community-based services feel more accessible and less daunting than seeking help through emergency departments.
“People don’t want to present to emergency,” Lisa explains. Acknowledging that while hospital services are important and necessary, “if we put [funding] into wellbeing, we’re going to have more wellbeing.”
Holding hope through shared experience
While largely confined to her home, Lisa joined a program led by someone with similar lived experience. Knowing that person was working and participating in community life showed Lisa that recovery was possible.
“That’s the power of peer work, it actually instils hope that you can exist with your symptoms,” she says.
The outcomes Lisa hears about go beyond managing symptoms. People are rebuilding relationships, participating in community life and finding purpose.
“What I hear from the people who use our services is that they are thriving,” she says.
Lisa’s story is one of the voices behind our call to put community-based mental health care first. Read more about our Care Beyond Crisis 2027 NSW State Election campaign.
Help build the case for community-based mental health care
Get involved with Care Beyond Crisis using our Supporter Kit, with resources to help you share the campaign, connect with your local MP and build the case for community-based supports.
