Comprehensive, Psychiatric Assessment Clinic for Rural/Remote Children and Their Referring Paediatricians – What Works, and How
Tracks
Mossman - In-Person
| Friday, November 8, 2024 |
| 10:35 AM - 11:05 AM |
| Mossman Ballroom |
Overview
Dr Josephine Anderson and Sarah McDowell, Royal Far West, UNSW
Speaker
Mrs Sarah McDowell
Clinical Nurse Consultant
Royal Far West
Comprehensive, Psychiatric Assessment Clinic for Rural/Remote Children and Their Referring Paediatricians – What Works, and How
Abstract
In Australia, 50% of all mental health issues emerge before the age of 14 and more than half of children struggling with mental health issues are not receiving professional help. Rates are higher in rural and remote areas where access to mental health services is substantially limited. 70% of the most common presentations to paediatricians are for mental health, and access to psychiatry services is particularly poor. There are 112 psychiatrists per 1000 of the population in urban areas and only 35 per 1000 in remote areas of Australia.
Royal Far West (RFW) operates a multi-disciplinary neurodevelopmental assessment, diagnosis and review service dedicated to rural and remote children, based in Manly, NSW (the Paediatric Development Program, PDP). The program includes child psychiatry and receives a high number of referrals from rural paediatricians seeking a psychiatric opinion.
In 2023 RFW and the Murrumbidgee PHN piloted an innovative approach to care through development of a new psychiatric assessment-only clinic for children residing in the Murrumbidgee PHN area. The clinic is unique in that it uses digital mental health to in-reach to families and their referring paediatricians, enhancing accessibility to comprehensive psychiatric assessment. In 23-24, following the pilot, we have partnered with the Peregrine Foundation, the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of NSW Sydney, to further develop and evaluate the model capturing both quantitative and (thematically analysed) qualitative data to answer research questions regarding the acceptability, feasibility, effectiveness and scalability of the model.
This further evaluation of the Clinic will end in September 2024 and the updated model together with outcomes and case studies will be presented.
Three Key Learnings:
Data to date strongly suggests the following:
1. The model promotes continuity of care through enhanced cohesion and shared formulation amongst key stakeholders.
2. Key elements of the Clinic model show that clever use of digital mental health, well-supported by a clinical care team, significantly enhances access to psychiatric care for children in regional Australia.
3. The Clinic provides a solution to psychiatry accessibility in rural and remote areas, along with potential scope for scaling up across the rural mental health sector.
Royal Far West (RFW) operates a multi-disciplinary neurodevelopmental assessment, diagnosis and review service dedicated to rural and remote children, based in Manly, NSW (the Paediatric Development Program, PDP). The program includes child psychiatry and receives a high number of referrals from rural paediatricians seeking a psychiatric opinion.
In 2023 RFW and the Murrumbidgee PHN piloted an innovative approach to care through development of a new psychiatric assessment-only clinic for children residing in the Murrumbidgee PHN area. The clinic is unique in that it uses digital mental health to in-reach to families and their referring paediatricians, enhancing accessibility to comprehensive psychiatric assessment. In 23-24, following the pilot, we have partnered with the Peregrine Foundation, the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of NSW Sydney, to further develop and evaluate the model capturing both quantitative and (thematically analysed) qualitative data to answer research questions regarding the acceptability, feasibility, effectiveness and scalability of the model.
This further evaluation of the Clinic will end in September 2024 and the updated model together with outcomes and case studies will be presented.
Three Key Learnings:
Data to date strongly suggests the following:
1. The model promotes continuity of care through enhanced cohesion and shared formulation amongst key stakeholders.
2. Key elements of the Clinic model show that clever use of digital mental health, well-supported by a clinical care team, significantly enhances access to psychiatric care for children in regional Australia.
3. The Clinic provides a solution to psychiatry accessibility in rural and remote areas, along with potential scope for scaling up across the rural mental health sector.
Biography
Sarah McDowell has been working in Child and Adolescent Mental Health for 18 years.
She obtained a master’s degree in Child and Adolescent Mental Health through the Institute of Psychiatry in 2012 and has been working as a Clinical Nurse Consultant since this time across various community, inpatient and acute settings. Sarah’s area of expertise is in Suicide Prevention with children and young people, supervision, training and project coordination. Sarah holds a dual position within Royal Far West as the CNC and Project Coordinator for the Psychiatry Only Pathway, supporting project implementation and evaluation whilst providing clinical services to rural and remote children, young people and their families.
Dr Josephine Anderson
Conjoint A/Professor UNSW Faculty Of Medicine
Royal Far West Centre For Country Kids
Comprehensive, Psychiatric Assessment Clinic for Rural/Remote Children and Their Referring Paediatricians – What Works, and How
Abstract
In Australia, 50% of all mental health issues emerge before the age of 14 and more than half of children struggling with mental health issues are not receiving professional help. Rates are higher in rural and remote areas where access to mental health services is substantially limited. 70% of the most common presentations to paediatricians are for mental health, and access to psychiatry services is particularly poor. There are 112 psychiatrists per 1000 of the population in urban areas and only 35 per 1000 in remote areas of Australia.
Royal Far West (RFW) operates a multi-disciplinary neurodevelopmental assessment, diagnosis and review service dedicated to rural and remote children, based in Manly, NSW (the Paediatric Development Program, PDP). The program includes child psychiatry and receives a high number of referrals from rural paediatricians seeking a psychiatric opinion.
In 2023 RFW and the Murrumbidgee PHN piloted an innovative approach to care through development of a new psychiatric assessment-only clinic for children residing in the Murrumbidgee PHN area. The clinic is unique in that it uses digital mental health to in-reach to families and their referring paediatricians, enhancing accessibility to comprehensive psychiatric assessment. In 23-24, following the pilot, we have partnered with the Peregrine Foundation, the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of NSW Sydney, to further develop and evaluate the model capturing both quantitative and (thematically analysed) qualitative data to answer research questions regarding the acceptability, feasibility, effectiveness and scalability of the model.
This further evaluation of the Clinic will end in September 2024 and the updated model together with outcomes and case studies will be presented.
Three Key Learnings:
Data to date strongly suggests the following:
1. The model promotes continuity of care through enhanced cohesion and shared formulation amongst key stakeholders.
2. Key elements of the Clinic model show that clever use of digital mental health, well-supported by a clinical care team, significantly enhances access to psychiatric care for children in regional Australia.
3. The Clinic provides a solution to psychiatry accessibility in rural and remote areas, along with potential scope for scaling up across the rural mental health sector.
Royal Far West (RFW) operates a multi-disciplinary neurodevelopmental assessment, diagnosis and review service dedicated to rural and remote children, based in Manly, NSW (the Paediatric Development Program, PDP). The program includes child psychiatry and receives a high number of referrals from rural paediatricians seeking a psychiatric opinion.
In 2023 RFW and the Murrumbidgee PHN piloted an innovative approach to care through development of a new psychiatric assessment-only clinic for children residing in the Murrumbidgee PHN area. The clinic is unique in that it uses digital mental health to in-reach to families and their referring paediatricians, enhancing accessibility to comprehensive psychiatric assessment. In 23-24, following the pilot, we have partnered with the Peregrine Foundation, the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of NSW Sydney, to further develop and evaluate the model capturing both quantitative and (thematically analysed) qualitative data to answer research questions regarding the acceptability, feasibility, effectiveness and scalability of the model.
This further evaluation of the Clinic will end in September 2024 and the updated model together with outcomes and case studies will be presented.
Three Key Learnings:
Data to date strongly suggests the following:
1. The model promotes continuity of care through enhanced cohesion and shared formulation amongst key stakeholders.
2. Key elements of the Clinic model show that clever use of digital mental health, well-supported by a clinical care team, significantly enhances access to psychiatric care for children in regional Australia.
3. The Clinic provides a solution to psychiatry accessibility in rural and remote areas, along with potential scope for scaling up across the rural mental health sector.
Biography
Dr Josephine Anderson is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist and Conjoint Associate Professor at UNSW. She is currently a VMO Psychiatrist at the Early Psychosis Program, SESLHD, a member of the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal and Psychiatrist at the Royal Far West Centre (RFW) for Country Kids at Manly, where she consults to the Board’s Health, Research and Clinical Governance Committee.
Whilst her work is primarily clinical, Dr Anderson has a keen interest in innovative service development, including those embracing partnerships with Physicians, Education and NGO care providers. Since 2019, she has championed the development of mental health services at RFW, in particular the role of child and adolescent psychiatrists in supporting rural and regional medical practitioners.
