Synopsis

In Australia, over 40% of children with intellectual disability (ID) and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have mental health problems requiring long term psychiatric care. However access to such treatment is inadequate, particularly in adult services. This impacts upon timely transition from the RCH and has the potential to create longer-term negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of these young people and their families.

For the first time at the RCH, five departments have teamed up to address this important issue: Mental Health, Neurodevelopment and Disability, General Medicine, Centre for Community Child Health and the Transition Support Service.

This Grand Round presentation will explore this issue, including a trial of measurement tools to assess the severity and impact of mental health symptoms to help inform appropriate care pathways, and progress made with external partners to ensure optimal care outcomes in the community.

Speakers

Evelyn Culnane is the Transition Manager at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Evelyn partners with multiple departments and subspecialties across the RCH, adult services, primary care, paediatric networks and other key stakeholders.

Daryl Efron is a paediatrician in the Department General Medicine and Senior Research Fellow at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI). He works at the interfaces of general paediatrics, developmental-behavioural paediatrics and mental health.

Giuliana Antolovich is a paediatrician in Neurodevelopment & Disability (formerly Developmental Medicine) at the RCH and an Honorary Fellow, MCRI. Giuliana’s clinical work is focused on the long term care and management of children and adolescents with complex developmental disability, including consideration of advocacy and disability rights.

Chidambaram Prakash is the Principal Hospital Psychiatrist at the RCH. His clinical interests include the mental health problems in children and adolescents with developmental disorders, self-harm and suicide and psychiatric causes of sleep disorders.

Lionel Lubitz is a paediatrician and rock-star, formerly in the Department of General Medicine in a stellar career where he rose to be deputy director and eventually returned to being a foot soldier, beating back the waves of pathology from outpatients, wards and similar environs. He now devotes all his time to this project.

Nikki di Iorio is the Improvement Manager for this project. Nikki has worked in the Mental Health department at the RCH for 9 years and is instrumental in this inter-departmental collaboration.