Children around the world are spending more time indoors compared to previous generations. Developments such as reduced access to natural spaces due to urbanisation, increased use of digital technologies and concerns about the safety of play in natural environments are among the reasons for children having fewer opportunities to experience nature regularly. These shifts mean their childhood experiences differ significantly from those of past generations. Evidence shows that staying indoors can negatively affect children's development and wellbeing both in the short and long term. Research data indicates that today's children are less healthy, happy, and socially active than before. This presentation will describe the evidence from a literature review on the impact of nature play on children's social and emotional wellbeing and offers suggestions on how to foster these beneficial effects. The emphasis will be on early childhood (ages 0–5), which is a crucial period for the development of a child's connection to nature. We will describe the evidence for what nature play is, what its key features are, and how it benefits children. Participants will gain practical tips for supporting parents in addressing safety concerns and engaging with nature as a family. The presentation will also discuss the strengths and limitations of existing evidence on nature play, offering recommendations for future research and practice. The presentation will encourage participants to develop innovative strategies to support children’s wellbeing through nature play, fostering a healthier, happier, and more socially engaged generation.

This presentation highlights the profound impact of domestic and family violence on the mental health and wellbeing of infants, with emphasis on Shaken Baby Syndrome. Research shows that early exposure to violence disrupts development, with implications for emotional, psychological, cognitive and social wellbeing. Domestic violence heightens the risk of Shaken Baby Syndrome, resulting in severe brain trauma and potential mental health challenges. In Australia, a baby falls victim to abusive head trauma every two weeks, often from violent shaking or other intentional harm, leaving many with enduring impacts on their mental wellbeing.

Infants who experience domestic and family violence can face a number of mental health challenges, including emotional dysregulation, insecure attachment and developmental delays. The impact of trauma, even if not understood by the child, can be profound, leaving them with embedded fear, anxiety and confusion. Additionally, early exposure to violence can increase the risk of developing mental health disorders in childhood, adolescent and adult years.

It is crucial professionals are equipped with the knowledge and skills to recognise, respond and prevent the mental health impact that domestic violence and Shaken Baby Syndrome has on infants. Professionals who provide services in postnatal care, family support, foster care, community health and early childhood education are pivotal in supporting families to understand the effects of domestic violence on infants, increasing safety, building attachment and supporting infant mental health.

Comprehensive prevention and intervention strategies are imperative to counter the effects of domestic and family violence on infant mental health. By addressing the dual risks of domestic violence and Shaken Baby Syndrome through evidence-based practices across, family and community contexts, we can create nurturing environments for infants to thrive. This presentation supports unified efforts for inclusive prevention plans, ensuring every child grows up in an environment promoting mental health and wellbeing.

The Hands of Wellbeing (HOW) has been developed by children 4 to 12 years of age with mild to moderate mental health support needs and their clinicians under a co-design model for the Wellbeing4Kids program.

It is a combined Client Reported Outcome and Experience Measurement tool in the shape of a hand, highlighting the therapeutic voice of the child pre-therapy and post-therapy.

The HOW aligns with the evidence-based Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and is a unique way of gaining outcome measures for the child, by the child.

The hand explores the themes aligned to the SDQ scales with more simplified child friendly questions stemming from the basis of HOW the child is feeling in each category:
- Emotional = Feelings,
- Behavioural = Behaviour,
- Hyperactivity = Focus,
- Problems with Peers = Friends,
- Prosocial scale = Kindness.

The Clinician opens the first session by enquiring directly with the child about the areas in their life they feel happy with, as well as the parts of their life they believe are more difficult to navigate.

In aligning with the SDQ, each question has three rating responses:
1. “I’m good at this”
2. “Sometimes / I’m getting better at this”
3. “I need help / more practice”

This becomes a strategic rapport building exercise, where discussions can be encouraged in each key area, guiding future session planning with the child in the areas requiring support.

In the final session, the child completes their final HOW and the Clinician talks to the child about the changes and progress they have directed throughout their program.

The HOW has shown significant improvements post therapy for children who noted “I need help / more practice” in all five key areas.

Background:
This project was developed collaboratively between consumers at the Brolga Unit (an adolescent inpatient mental health ward) and staff, aiming to reduce stress and possible trauma associated with the use of grey “safety blankets”. These blankets are used to replace bedlinen for consumers assessed as moderate-to-high risk of self-harm. Feedback from consumers revealed experiences of shame, guilt, hopelessness, and worthlessness in being provided with these grey blankets.

Aims/purpose:
This project aims to reduce these trauma-based reactions to grey safety blankets by using printed art and positive messages developed by consumers, transforming a blanket into “A Living Artwork”. The proposed benefits are twofold: 1) decreasing intensity of negative responses to the blankets through art; 2) providing therapeutic opportunities for consumers to create the art used for the blanket. We aim to produce one blanket as a pilot project this year, with the potential for all beds on the unit to have a “From Drab to Fab - A Living Artwork” blanket in the future.

Methods
Participants will be young people aged 12 to 18 years who are admitted to Brolga, recruited through one-to-one and small group discussions, and poster displays. Those who express an interest will be encouraged to draft an artwork with a positive message in one-to-one sessions with a staff member, who will support them to reproduce this artwork and message on a blanket.

Results:
Due to being a pilot project there is no formal quantitative or qualitative data to report yet, however feedback from consumers has been positive regarding expected benefits and interest in participation. Ongoing data collection is planned for the coming year.

Previous research found that youths at risk of suicide experience strained family relationships. Given these challenges, frontline practitioners play a pivotal role in responding to youths at risk of suicide and their families. In this study, we examined the social-cognitive aspects of practice for youths with acute and chronic risks, building upon earlier research suggesting that practitioners with higher levels of perceived confidence and competence provide more effective assessments and treatments for their clients.
A diverse sample of 238 practitioners completed a survey assessing their attitudes towards suicide, their received training support, self-efficacy, and perceived competence. Self-efficacy was measured by the Self-Efficacy in Social Workers Scale (Pedrazza et al., 2013) and perceived competence using the Suicide Competency Assessment Form (SCAF) (Grimholt et al., 2014).
Key findings revealed that 55% of participants reported a lack of suicide intervention or assessment training during their course of study. While participants generally believed in suicide preventability, they held neutral attitudes regarding the controllability of suicidal tendencies.  The belief that suicide could be prevented was significantly positively associated with certain factors.
There was no significant difference in the scores for self-efficacy and the SCAF between practitioners intervening with youths with acute and chronic suicide risks. The absence of a statistically significant difference in self-efficacy and SCAF scores between practitioners dealing with acute and chronic suicide risks indicates that, regardless of the nature of the risk, professionals exhibit consistent levels of assurance in their abilities to intervene effectively. We also discussed the implications of our findings within the context of enhancing the social-cognitive aspects of suicide intervention in Singapore, and the practical ramifications for practice, training, and supervision.   

Background
Youth mental health is a growing concern in Singapore, where one in ten youths suffer from a mental health disorder. In response, the AdoLescent Evaluation and Rapid Treatment (ALERT) programme was developed as a primary care-based service to provide timely mental health intervention for youths aged 13 to 17.

Method
The ALERT programme employs opportunistic mental health screening for youths visiting polyclinics. When mental health issues are identified, the youth undergo a programme involving psychosocial assessment and supportive counselling provided by Family Physicians and Medical Social Workers (MSWs). The severity of their condition is measured using the Clinical Global Impression – Severity Scale (CGI-S) and the Children Global Assessment Scale (CGAS). Adolescents receive up to four counselling sessions, with progress monitored using the Clinical Global Impression – Improvement Scale (CGI-I) scale.

Results
Since its launch in 2023, ALERT has supported 69 adolescents, with a median age of 15 years (SD=2.0). The majority were female (72.5%, n=50) and of Chinese ethnicity (73.9%, n=51). Most presented autonomously (63.8%, n=44), while the rest were accompanied by parents. The mean CGAS score at initial assessment was 61.3 (SD=11.6). The majority (60.9%, n=42) presented with mild to moderate severity (CGI-S=2–3), while 34.8% (n=24) had more severe conditions (CGI-S≥4). A total of 40.6% (n=28) of the adolescents have successfully stepped down from the programme, with 7 stepping down after the initial session. Of the 21 who stepped down after subsequent sessions, 95.2% (n=20/21) showed improvement in symptoms (CGI-I ≤ 3), and 85.7% (n=18/21) demonstrated improvement in CGAS scores.

Conclusion
ALERT has proven to be an effective primary care-based youth mental health service, offering early detection and intervention for at-risk youths. By providing timely psychosocial support, it addresses the mental health needs of adolescents in the community.

Three Key Learnings
1. Opportunistic mental health screening in primary care clinics provides early detection and timely intervention for at-risk youths in the community.
2. Integrating medical and psychosocial support in primary care offers holistic care for youths with mental health concerns.
3. Building resilience in youths and equipping families with coping strategies helps improve long-term mental health outcomes.

The World Health Organization (WHO)(2017) declared suicide a fatal international concern. Next to accidents, suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth in Canada (WHO, 2017). Sixty-eight percent of individuals who have seriously contemplated suicide first thought about it in early adolescence (Becker, 2017), highlighting the importance of addressing this issue early on. Suicide prevention and mental health literacy are fundamental for educational institutions (Shannonhouse et al., 2016). For early identification to occur, people must understand the risk factors associated with suicide and other mental health issues (Shannonhouse et al., 2016). Each year, in Canada, approximately 4500 people die by suicide which is equal to 12 people per day (Government of Canada, 2024). It is important to note that every day, 200 people attempt suicide (Government of Canada, 2024).Educators prefer ongoing professional development based on a mixture of styles that is relevant and current to their student needs, however, educators realize that time constraints prevent them from ongoing training, a barrier also mentioned in existing literature (Bevilacqua, 2021). Further, although there are many available programs on suicide prevention (Shannonhouse et al., 2016), educators feel they require refreshers or follow-up training and would benefit from programs specific to their learning needs (Bevilacqua, 2021). Educators are interested in knowing the legalities and their scope when addressing people at risk of suicide; however, knowing what to say is required (Bevilacqua, 2021). From these findings, the Stay Alive Initiative was created to tackle all avenues of desired learning, including oral presentations on what to say and when to ask, help cards with what to say, and posters that are hung up campus-wide. These tools are to be used not only by the educators to spot at-risk students, but for staff to support their co-workers and students to support their colleagues.

Theme
Our innovative program has existed since 2020 when a tender was put in to address ill mental health in adolescence who are significantly disengaged from employment, education and/or training.
One of the first of its kind in Australia the living learning program aims to support young people aged between 15-24 to re-engage with education, employment or training and stabilize their mental health.
The program is evidence based with careful outcome measures in place to ensure its efficacy and continuation given the growing needs for young people requiring this specific kind of support.

Disengagement from education and ill mental health often co-exist as a student’s interest, motivation, capacity and ability to engage meaningfully can be heavily influenced by what is occurring from them at an individual level including their mental health (Klassen et. Al. 2021).
In addition to this, the young person's ecology and the overlapping contextual environments play a significant role in their success and is heavily influential to their level of engagement and success in education (Crawford, 2020). Combining both the family system and school system is of primary importance as we aim to support mental health in a pragmatic way utilizing the school system as a natural place to address some of the drivers for anxiety and depression. Some of the determinants of these conditions include stigma, marginalization, adversity, exclusion all of which can be addressed pragmatically in the young person’s environment (WHO, 2021)

We would like to present on the approaches we have used in our program and its efficacy to encourage innovative ways that professionals can target driving factors for both ill-mental health and school disengagement together. We want to support professionals to step through pragmatic processes and highlight the efficacy of our program and share some of our data to evidence our success.

Three Key Learnings:
1. There are pragmatic ways to target driving factors for depression and anxiety including meaningful engagement in an educational setting helping to achieve a sense of purpose, hope, belonging, routine, structure and predictability. Supporting and encouraging attendance and engagement also supports us to ensure we are not pathologizing young people.

2. The influence of the young person's family and their ecology is crucial; we must consider a multi-systemic lens in efforts to achieve success.

3. Ensuring the young person voice and participation is central being family led in practice is paramount, we have seen great success through applying this approach.

The World Health Organization (WHO)(2017) declared suicide a fatal international concern. Next to accidents, suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth in Canada (WHO, 2017). Sixty-eight percent of individuals who have seriously contemplated suicide first thought about it in early adolescence (Becker, 2017), highlighting the importance of addressing this issue early on. Suicide prevention and mental health literacy are fundamental for educational institutions (Shannonhouse et al., 2016). For early identification to occur, people must understand the risk factors associated with suicide and other mental health issues (Shannonhouse et al., 2016). Each year, in Canada, approximately 4500 people die by suicide which is equal to 12 people per day (Government of Canada, 2024). It is important to note that every day, 200 people attempt suicide (Government of Canada, 2024).Educators prefer ongoing professional development based on a mixture of styles that is relevant and current to their student needs, however, educators realize that time constraints prevent them from ongoing training, a barrier also mentioned in existing literature (Bevilacqua, 2021). Further, although there are many available programs on suicide prevention (Shannonhouse et al., 2016), educators feel they require refreshers or follow-up training and would benefit from programs specific to their learning needs (Bevilacqua, 2021). Educators are interested in knowing the legalities and their scope when addressing people at risk of suicide; however, knowing what to say is required (Bevilacqua, 2021). From these findings, the Stay Alive Initiative was created to tackle all avenues of desired learning, including oral presentations on what to say and when to ask, help cards with what to say, and posters that are hung up campus-wide. These tools are to be used not only by the educators to spot at-risk students, but for staff to support their co-workers and students to support their colleagues.

Background
Youth mental health is a growing concern in Singapore, where one in ten youths suffer from a mental health disorder. In response, the AdoLescent Evaluation and Rapid Treatment (ALERT) programme was developed as a primary care-based service to provide timely mental health intervention for youths aged 13 to 17.

Method
The ALERT programme employs opportunistic mental health screening for youths visiting polyclinics. When mental health issues are identified, the youth undergo a programme involving psychosocial assessment and supportive counselling provided by Family Physicians and Medical Social Workers (MSWs). The severity of their condition is measured using the Clinical Global Impression – Severity Scale (CGI-S) and the Children Global Assessment Scale (CGAS). Adolescents receive up to four counselling sessions, with progress monitored using the Clinical Global Impression – Improvement Scale (CGI-I) scale.

Results
Since its launch in 2023, ALERT has supported 69 adolescents, with a median age of 15 years (SD=2.0). The majority were female (72.5%, n=50) and of Chinese ethnicity (73.9%, n=51). Most presented autonomously (63.8%, n=44), while the rest were accompanied by parents. The mean CGAS score at initial assessment was 61.3 (SD=11.6). The majority (60.9%, n=42) presented with mild to moderate severity (CGI-S=2–3), while 34.8% (n=24) had more severe conditions (CGI-S≥4). A total of 40.6% (n=28) of the adolescents have successfully stepped down from the programme, with 7 stepping down after the initial session. Of the 21 who stepped down after subsequent sessions, 95.2% (n=20/21) showed improvement in symptoms (CGI-I ≤ 3), and 85.7% (n=18/21) demonstrated improvement in CGAS scores.

Conclusion
ALERT has proven to be an effective primary care-based youth mental health service, offering early detection and intervention for at-risk youths. By providing timely psychosocial support, it addresses the mental health needs of adolescents in the community.

Three Key Learnings
1. Opportunistic mental health screening in primary care clinics provides early detection and timely intervention for at-risk youths in the community.
2. Integrating medical and psychosocial support in primary care offers holistic care for youths with mental health concerns.
3. Building resilience in youths and equipping families with coping strategies helps improve long-term mental health outcomes.

Advocacy for family mental health is poorly coordinated in Australia and the CAMH conference of 2025 offers the opportunity to build a national organization that is free from funding influence from government. We wish to aid the establishment of MHYF Vic like organizations in regional areas throughout Australia. These could be state based, but regional and remote areas might be better served by their own local branches of a national Aus MHYF.
MHYF Vic is currently in the process of reorganization to accommodate Not-for-Profit status and secure funding from charitable organizations to support advocacy for family mental health. The restructuring of MHYF Vic will enable easy transition to a national body and bring funds and attention to particular national or local priorities.
Child and adolescent mental health services are valuable as agents of early intervention and prevention of more serious conditions that can develop in adolescence and adulthood. It is difficult to measure the value of prevention, early intervention, and mental health promotion, but it does add much to the national state of health. We need to tell policy and decision makers about this valuable contribution and sponsor programs that demonstrate this value. If the needs are demonstrated in a national and coordinated way we are more likely to generate attention to the issues and funding for programs.
It is proposed to hold a forum at the upcoming CAMH conference to gather interest, expertise, and commitment to the building of a national voice for family mental health.

Three Key Learningss:
1. Need to establish national body for advocacy for child and adolescent mental health
2. Need to have national and local representation across Australia
3. Funding must be independent of government so that a critical voice can be articulated without bias

Indigenous young people often experience significant mental health disparities, which are deeply rooted in historical trauma, systemic racism, cultural dislocation, and loss of language and identity. This presentation explores how addressing racism and among mental health professionals can start in the therapeutic relationship by acknowledging trauma by using a person’s indigenous name.

Research has shown that cultural trauma, compounded by systemic discrimination, contributes to higher rates of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and suicide among Indigenous youth. However, culturally tailored interventions and Indigenous worldviews can enhance the therapeutic relationship and the effectiveness of mental health services. Providers need to adopt a cultural humility and a trauma-informed approach, which includes an understanding of the historical trauma experienced by Indigenous communities. It will also discuss the strategy of dismantling racism by using indigenous names. This presentation offers recommendation in how providers can stop perpetuating racism and examine practices of engaging with indigenous youth.

Targeted prevention of Non-suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) among youths, is essential given its association with suicide and mental health issues, and its underreporting because of stigma. Hence, an island-wide pilot peer support programme, “Walk with Me,” was developed in Singapore to strengthen protective factors like social support, social support-seeking behaviors, interpersonal skills, and emotional coping, all crucial for preventing NSSI and promoting mental wellness.
The programme mobilized 77 trained youth volunteers, who provided peer support to 38 youth service users aged 15-25 at risk of NSSI. This involved provision of emotional support and engagement in interest-based activities to improve emotional regulation, conducted over 4-6 months through in-person and online interactions. Mental health professionals were involved only at the start and end to encourage organic relationship development. Volunteers received intensive support, including monthly supervision and standby help, while ethical safeguards were ensured through risk mitigation and volunteer partnerships. The programme was trauma-informed, relationship-focused, and ecologically driven, involving caregivers and professionals as additional support to existing mental health services.

The programme resulted in positive outcomes for both service users and volunteers. Service users showed significant improvement in social support-seeking behaviours and emotional regulation. The supportive relationships with youth volunteers inspired them to engage in prosocial behaviours, feel less isolated, and have more positive relationship appraisals. Volunteers gained knowledge on NSSI which led to self-advocacy to break NSSI-related stigma and learned empathetic support skills. Many volunteers chose to maintain contact with service users, expanding their informal support networks. This pilot emphasizes the value of fostering positive peer relationships through a community-based approach to prevent and address mental health challenges among youths. It demonstrates the potential of empowering youths to support each other’s mental health within a structured, safe, and supportive environment, complementing the role of mental health professionals, and contributing to promising preventive approaches.

Previous research found that youths at risk of suicide experience strained family relationships. Given these challenges, frontline practitioners play a pivotal role in responding to youths at risk of suicide and their families. In this study, we examined the social-cognitive aspects of practice for youths with acute and chronic risks, building upon earlier research suggesting that practitioners with higher levels of perceived confidence and competence provide more effective assessments and treatments for their clients.
A diverse sample of 238 practitioners completed a survey assessing their attitudes towards suicide, their received training support, self-efficacy, and perceived competence. Self-efficacy was measured by the Self-Efficacy in Social Workers Scale (Pedrazza et al., 2013) and perceived competence using the Suicide Competency Assessment Form (SCAF) (Grimholt et al., 2014).
Key findings revealed that 55% of participants reported a lack of suicide intervention or assessment training during their course of study. While participants generally believed in suicide preventability, they held neutral attitudes regarding the controllability of suicidal tendencies.  The belief that suicide could be prevented was significantly positively associated with certain factors.
There was no significant difference in the scores for self-efficacy and the SCAF between practitioners intervening with youths with acute and chronic suicide risks. The absence of a statistically significant difference in self-efficacy and SCAF scores between practitioners dealing with acute and chronic suicide risks indicates that, regardless of the nature of the risk, professionals exhibit consistent levels of assurance in their abilities to intervene effectively. We also discussed the implications of our findings within the context of enhancing the social-cognitive aspects of suicide intervention in Singapore, and the practical ramifications for practice, training, and supervision.   

Background
Anxiety disorders are one of the most common types of mental illness in children. Exposure is the gold-standard treatment ingredient for childhood anxiety, as it teaches children how to face their fears. However, only 50% of children who complete current gold-standard treatments improve, and only 19% of children with elevated anxiety receive evidence-based care. As such, there is a need to improve current treatments and increase accessibility to appropriate supports. To address this gap, we are conducting a trial employing a factorial design to evaluate a digital exposure-based intervention named Courage Quest Plus and the benefits of five specific exposure features: rewards, relaxation, expectation questions, parent training, and positive mood. This study investigated the influence of these five features of therapy to optimise the delivery of exposure treatment.

Method
We recruited 8–12-year-old children diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, and their parents. All participants received the same 10-week exposure-based intervention and were additionally randomly allocated to receive a combination of up to five of the additional features. We trialled the Courage Quest Plus intervention to see if it changed the severity of anxiety symptoms, anxiety disorder diagnoses, life interference, behavioural symptoms, quality of life, health service usage, parent behaviour, and parent-child relationship. We also measured intervention usage and acceptability. Measures were conducted at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 6-month follow-up.

Results
The outcomes of the trial (expected in 2025) will provide evidence regarding the efficacy of specific exposure optimisation techniques.

Conclusion
This study will determine optimal methods for parents and clinicians to use when delivering CBT and exposure techniques to children with anxiety, to potentially result in quicker and more durable outcomes.

Targeted prevention of Non-suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) among youths, is essential given its association with suicide and mental health issues, and its underreporting because of stigma. Hence, an island-wide pilot peer support programme, “Walk with Me,” was developed in Singapore to strengthen protective factors like social support, social support-seeking behaviors, interpersonal skills, and emotional coping, all crucial for preventing NSSI and promoting mental wellness.
The programme mobilized 77 trained youth volunteers, who provided peer support to 38 youth service users aged 15-25 at risk of NSSI. This involved provision of emotional support and engagement in interest-based activities to improve emotional regulation, conducted over 4-6 months through in-person and online interactions. Mental health professionals were involved only at the start and end to encourage organic relationship development. Volunteers received intensive support, including monthly supervision and standby help, while ethical safeguards were ensured through risk mitigation and volunteer partnerships. The programme was trauma-informed, relationship-focused, and ecologically driven, involving caregivers and professionals as additional support to existing mental health services.

The programme resulted in positive outcomes for both service users and volunteers. Service users showed significant improvement in social support-seeking behaviours and emotional regulation. The supportive relationships with youth volunteers inspired them to engage in prosocial behaviours, feel less isolated, and have more positive relationship appraisals. Volunteers gained knowledge on NSSI which led to self-advocacy to break NSSI-related stigma and learned empathetic support skills. Many volunteers chose to maintain contact with service users, expanding their informal support networks. This pilot emphasizes the value of fostering positive peer relationships through a community-based approach to prevent and address mental health challenges among youths. It demonstrates the potential of empowering youths to support each other’s mental health within a structured, safe, and supportive environment, complementing the role of mental health professionals, and contributing to promising preventive approaches.

Research organisations and funding bodies are increasingly conscious of the need for research and evaluation that accounts for the trauma experiences of participants. A key aim of research with humans is to understand participant experiences without causing harm. Trauma-informed research and evaluation is an emerging area of research practice. It is a term that can sometimes be used as though it has a shared and inherent meaning and implications. This workshop will focus on defining what trauma-informed research and evaluation is, why it is valuable and explaining some trauma-informed approaches to research methods. The facilitating team intend to provide useful foundational knowledge and skills in trauma-informed research and evaluation, and so there is no requirement of existing knowledge or experience.

The workshop will involve information sharing by the facilitating team, practical application of strategies for trauma-informed research and evaluation to attendees’ own projects, discussion in small groups, opportunities to workshop skills and ideas and whole-group reflections on the use of trauma-informed research principles in a real-world context. The practical activities in this masterclass will focus specifically on ways to collect data in a trauma-informed way. This workshop is based on two recent practice guides created by the Child Family Community Australia (CFCA) information exchange: Principles for doing trauma-informed research and program evaluation, and How to do trauma-informed research and evaluation.

Adolescents in Queensland are among the healthiest in the world, however, First Nations adolescents in Queensland experience persistent health and wellbeing disadvantages, higher levels of personal stressors and distress, and lower school attendance and retention than non-First Nations adolescents. A new nationally relevant wellbeing measure for First Nations adolescents aged 12-17 years, called What Matters 2Youth (WM2Y), has been developed by a First Nations-led team. WM2Y is culturally grounded, psychometrically robust, strengths based and is the first tailored wellbeing measure to effectively guide and evaluate programs, services, and policies for this population. Wellbeing Ways is a two-year project, which will implement routine longitudinal administration of WM2Y in four Queensland secondary schools to assess wellbeing and co-design resources, activities, and referral pathways to effectively support First Nations students’ wellbeing. Development of scale up strategies will allow the translation of findings to schools across Queensland.
Wellbeing Ways has partnered with four diverse Queensland secondary schools to implement the routine longitudinal administration of WM2Y to assess First Nations students’ wellbeing and co-design or adapt place-based resources, activities, and referral pathways to meet their students’ wellbeing needs.
Our team has conducted Yarning Circles with staff at each of the four schools in preparation for the implementation of WM2Y in 2025. These Yarning Circles gathered information from staff about the enablers, barriers, feasibility and logistics of implementing and administering wellbeing measures with First Nations students in their school. Key findings from this pre-implementation phase will be presented and implications for the implementation and administration of other interventions in secondary schools will be explored. An overview of the WM2Y measure and its application across a range of settings with First Nations adolescents will also be presented.

Dance Connection, is a strengths-based early intervention program which explores physical, cultural, emotional and social elements of health, allowing children and young people to experience the joy of dance, be creative, relieve stress and build resilience.

Dance Connection and movement aims to reorganise the neurological system to create emotional, social and cognitive balance, developing healthy brains and bodies through fun and meaningful movement.

HelpingMinds utilises co-design in the development of workshops to ensure programs are meeting community needs. For the past 6 months, HelpingMinds has been facilitating Dance Connection and Mind Dance workshops for children both in the community and school setting, to develop program content and build on existing desired outcomes.

Our co-design workshops are based on the Dance Therapy Outcomes Framework, with the following outcomes for young people:

1. Improve Mental Health Literacy and Overall Wellbeing
Increase knowledge, understanding and skills needed to promote mental health and reduce impact of emerging mental health challenges. This includes exploring and gaining insight into unhealthy patterns of behaviours.

2. Expand Movement Vocabulary and Improve Physical Wellbeing
Ability to maintain a healthy quality of life, get the most out of daily activities without undue fatigue or physical distress as well as improve core support, alignment/posture, coordination and balance.

3. Empower Self-Expression and Maintain Healthy Relationships
Young people have a sense of belonging in their peer group and community - valuing diversity, promoting confidence, positive body image, creativity and social connectedness.

4. Increase in Protective and help seeking behaviours
Young people have the ability to embrace change in a healthy way making positive decisions.

We will continue on our Co-Design journey in 2024, with the hope to implement this as part of the HelpingMinds Service Delivery framework for children at risk, or experiencing mental health challenges in the near future.

Title: Impact of carer involvement in a young person’s recovery - A focus on Logan Youth SUSD.
Authors: Kimberley Nasio (Service Manager Logan Youth Step up step down)

Mind Australia and Metro South Health partner together to establish Logan’s first Youth Step up Step down Service (YSUSD) in 2022. The Program offers a sub-acute recovery-focussed support for young people (16 – 21 years old) with moderate to severe mental health issues.

Family’s involvement plays a pivotal role in the recovery journey of the young person, but this has been overlooked in most services. A prevalent challenge encountered in YSUSD is the divergent views between parents’ and young people’s regarding the path to recovery. Logan YSUSD has achieved numerous successes in bridging these gaps.

Key aspects of our approach include employing a family engagement work, information packs, offering supports, weekly family dinners. Not every young person has a family member engaged with the service. Enhancing understanding of family dynamics and involving family members in services can significantly improve engagement and increase the overall wellbeing for both the young person and the family.

Three key learnings will be addressed in this presentation:
a) Findings on the impact of the carer’s resilience and involvement in young people Journey.
b) The barriers and facilitators to family’s involvement
c) Strategies to improve positive communication and collaboration between the service, the young person, and their family.

Background
In 2019-2022, during COVID, suicide among university students in Japan increased. The National Police agency placed the causes into seven categories of problem; family, health, economic and living, work, social/relationships, school, others. However, they don’t clearly define the causes. This study aims to identify the trends and examine current support measures.
Methods
A statistical analysis of government figures related to university students, suicide and support structures involving the role of universities school nurses.
Results
The National Police Agency showed a significant increase in the number of the suicides between 2019 and 2022. (387, 422, 402, 550, respectively). The most common cause was school, followed by health. Over 85% of suicides are due to mental illness/disorders, and this is increasing annually. Depression and schizophrenia are particularly common.
Discussion
Universities in Japan need support systems that enable students to continue their studies. However, most universities employ school nurses and have infirmaries or health centers. The system cannot identify and deal with mental health problems.
Questionnaires and interviews are conducted annually to assess mental health along with physical health check-ups, students have the opportunity to inform the professional of any problem allowing for early detection and treatment. Counselling/interviews are encouraged to prevent students from failing due to health problems.
School nurses need to assess the health status of students and, multidisciplinary collaboration with other professionals such as counsellors, social workers and school doctors, is needed to develop strategic policies.
Some students committed suicide due to 'loneliness' (3 (2019), 12 (2020), 7 (2021) and 25 (2022)).
Peer support by students can also help in alleviating loneliness. Interpersonal support is necessary.　
Conclusion
School nurses need to act as coordinators and pro-actively support in two main areas: educating staff, and educating students. Now more than ever, student suicide prevention measures need to be established.

MyRespect - A group facilitated in High Schools over a school term with weekly sessions.

Myrespect has the goal of reducing violence and abuse in young females lives by educating them at an important and influential age being 14-18 years old. We envisage that young women will have the knowledge and power to make an informed decision relating to healthy relationships and there for reducing the pressure on Mental Health, criminal justice systems and Health Departments for many years to come."
Program Summary:
The MyRespect group was first launched in July 2023. Developed by the Mind Up team and we have grown to a point where we are booked out until July 2025 with the demand so high there is a significant need for ongoing funding.

Identified Need:
There is a growing concern among School Wellbeing Staff, services, and communities in the Hunter Region regarding the increasing complexity and prevalence of mental health challenges among young people. There is also evidence of young people entering abusive relationships earlier, highlighting the need for a tailored group program like MyRespect to address this gap.
Navigating relationships is a key component of a young person's development as they enter adulthood. This fosters positive mental health outcomes by building on self-esteem, strong peer interactions, boundary setting and conflict resolution skills.

Program Objectives:
MyRespect aims to create a unique space for young women to explore relationships as it relates to their own lived experience. The program explores this through providing participants with the tools and knowledge required to foster healthy relationships and identify the traits of unhealthy, abusive and/or controlling relationships.
Pilot Group Outcomes will be provided in presentation.

Mental Health Case Study will be provided -
Unhealthy Relationship Case Study will be provided at Presentation.

The Autism Qld (AQ) School Wellbeing Facilitators promote positive mental health, social & emotional wellbeing, resilience and capacity building within the AQ School community through the facilitation of Universal, Targeted and Specialist supports and are integral to student success. AQ School places students at the centre of their education ensuring each student’s personalised educational program celebrates and supports their strengths and provides opportunities for personal and academic growth and outcomes. The response to intervention model is used to guide the provision of universal, targeted, and specialist wellbeing support to students.

Wellbeing Facilitators service provide:
Universal wellbeing supports to the wider AQ School community.
The provision of information, skill building, direct support for staff regarding the identification of and responses to “School Can’t”, mental health needs, domestic violence impacts, trauma informed practice, guidance to strengthen families and carers capacity to support wellbeing and any other area of concern. For example, providing sleep hygiene advice.
Targeted supports to groups/classes on a response to intervention model.

Delivery of targeted standardised wellbeing programs such as
“Understanding and maintaining healthy relationships”, “Restorative Practices and SWITCH4Schools Wellbeing Check Ins/Resources”.

Specialised Support is provided:
Scheduled regular/as needed counselling of students regarding their mental, emotional, and social health, safety, and resilience utilising individual Animal Assisted Therapy sessions.

Autism Queensland (AQ) School has a vision of a life of participation, opportunity, and choice by partnering with autistic students, their families, and communities to remove barriers and realise potential. “Educational settings should support the social emotional wellbeing of students on the spectrum, as an essential element of programming. This has been widely recognised as a protective factor for wellbeing and mental health, as well as a key to educational success.” Saggers, Klug, Harper-Hill, Ashburner, Costley, Clark, Bruck, Trembath, Webster, Carrington. Australian Autism Educational Needs Analysis | Autism CRC August 2018.

Background:
This study aims to assess the relationship between time spent on social media, problematic social media use (SMU), and sleep disturbances among adolescents in North India. Addressing this issue is crucial for preventing long-term health consequences and ensuring the well-being of adolescents.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study involved 1306 participants aged 10-16 years from twenty government and private schools in Chandigarh (urban) and Raipur Rani block (rural) in district Panchkula, Haryana. Problematic social media use (SMU) was assessed based on two key factors: problematic content on social media and the time spent on social media during routine activities. A multivariate analysis was conducted to identify predictors of problematic SMU, and the association between time spent on social media and sleep disturbances was explored.
Results:
Out of 1306 participants, 59% were aged 14-16 years, with a mean age of 13.6 years. Around 33% reported using social media for more than 3 hours daily. Adolescents aged 14-16 were at a greater risk of problematic SMU (OR = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.21-2.31, p < 0.05). However, the strongest predictors were related to the level of internet addiction, significantly increasing the odds of problematic SMU (aOR= 3.47, 95% CI: 1.49-8.1, p<0.05). Participants who spent more than 3 hours on social media experienced significantly higher sleep disruption during weekdays (p < 0.05) and weekends (p < 0.001). Social media use was also linked to increased sleepiness during study time, especially among those who used it for more than 3 hours (p < 0.001).

Conclusion:
This study highlights that adolescents aged 14-16 years and those with higher levels of internet addiction are at increased risk for problematic SMU. Spending more than 3 hours daily on social media is significantly associated with sleep disturbances, including increased sleep disruption and heightened sleepiness during study time.

Youth mental health treatment can never be separated from the systems in which a youth exists. Whilst this is protective when systems are aligned, it can also lead to an array of complexities. For the caregiver, the challenges can feel infinite; what do they do when there are chasms in communication between the systems? When a young person is soon to age out of a service? When waitlists for services are over 12 months? How do families navigate the labyrinth of mental health systems?

With the ambitious goal of responding to these challenges faced by caregivers, the FLOW and Trinity College service model was established. The vision? To do it differently, to do it reflexively, and to keep it evolving to meet community need. Whilst FLOW operates as a private child and youth mental health service open to the public, it is deeply unique in its co-service model with Trinity College. Trinity College is Adelaide’s northern suburbs largest multi-school, supporting over 4,000 students from preschool through to completion of secondary schooling.

This presentation will delve into the ways in which FLOW addresses the barriers experienced by caregivers in accessing mental health services for their children and youth, using this pioneering service model. This will cover the intake and triage process, how a multi-disciplinary team is maintained and services inter-supported, the increased accessibility of clinicians on-site at schools, and how one business has spun into two, to ensure that no young person is aged out of FLOW without having an immediate option for continuing care and that parents are able to access their own mental health support.

The willingness and creativity needed to step beyond the “usual” allows for FLOW and Trinity to provide unique support families. This presentation will demonstrate accessible and innovative ways of bridging significant service gaps.

Children and young people living in rural and remote communities in Australia often experience poorer mental health than those in urban locations, with social marginalisation and economic disadvantage further increasing their risk of mental ill-health. Early intervention and targeted prevention programs are vital for addressing behavioural symptoms in early childhood to reduce the likelihood of developing mental health disorders later in life. Our mixed-methods study explored the circumstances in which rural and remote children with complex family and health presentations might be able to participate in and benefit from allied health-led mental and developmental health services, including services with a telehealth component. The focus of the study was children and their families participating in two programs provided by Royal Far West (RFW): the Child and Family Assessment Program and the Community Recovery Program. These are trauma-informed, multi-disciplinary health and wellbeing programs for children from rural and remote regions of Australia, who present with complex needs, yet have limited access to appropriate services in their local communities. This paper presents key findings from the qualitative component of the study, which involved semi-structured interviews with three groups of key informants: (1) client families, (2) educators, and (3) RFW staff. It highlights the role of ‘complexity’ in program engagement by illustrating facilitators and barriers to program uptake, engagement, completion, outcomes and telehealth from these three perspectives. Equity in mental health care for rural and remote Australian children can be supported by multidisciplinary assessment and telehealth-facilitated care, as well as by family-centred developmental approaches, which recognise that children develop in the context of relationships and experiences with their carers and surrounding environments.

Self-esteem as a mediator between perceived parenting style and adolescent learners’ aggression
The current study examined the relationship between perceived parenting styles and aggression among adolescent learners and the role of adolescents’ self-esteem as a mediator/moderator variable. 202 participants were conveniently sampled, and each completed the Parental Authority Questionnaire, the Buss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire, and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale. Pearson’s product-moment correlation was used to investigate the relationship between perceived parenting styles and aggression, and multiple hierarchical regression analyses were used to investigate the role of self-esteem as a mediator/moderator variable. The findings revealed that adolescents with high levels of aggression were likely to be raised by authoritarian parents, while authoritative parenting correlated with lowered aggression. Physically aggressive adolescents were also likely to be raised by permissive parents. Adolescents with high levels of self-esteem were more physically aggressive when parents were more authoritarian and more aggressive when parents were more permissive. Correspondingly, adolescents with low self-esteem were less hostile and angry when parents were more permissive. Authoritative parenting may increase adolescents’ self-esteem, thereby lowering their hostility. The implications of these findings and areas for future research are discussed.

ABSTRACT:

This case report presents a 17-year-old Filipino male diagnosed with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) manifesting severe preoccupation with an imagined facial defect. The patient's condition emerged following significant familial and social disruptions. Clinical evaluation indicated severe BDD with comorbid major depressive disorder. The patient exhibited BDD behaviors such as excessive mirror checking and camouflaging. Initial treatment included a combination of sertraline and quetiapine, alongside a recommendation for cognitive-behavioral therapy. This report highlights the interplay of psychodynamic, psychosocial, and sociocultural factors in the onset and management of BDD.