To prevent the unpredictable

Mental health risk assessments have always been a challenge, even for the most experienced clinicians. Risk assessment involves understanding not just the severity of the reported symptoms but the underlying motivations and the psychosocial circumstances. 

Paternal, social, and mental health perspectives on adolescent and adult male health

Synopsis To acknowledge the 30th anniversary of International Men’s Health Week, this Grand Round will be a panel discussion addressing the paternal, social, and mental health perspectives of men’s health, including fertility, health and wellbeing promotion, positive masculinity and the intergenerational influences on young people today.   Speakers Moderator: Professor David Amor is the Lorenzo … Continued

Reshaping Mental Health Resources: A Collaborative Approach

Join us for a panel discussion to explore how integrating the voices of children and their parents can transform the work we do in mental health. We will share our projects and insights, emphasising the impact of lived experience on the supports and resources we create. We will discuss practical insights for supporting lived experience in research, knowledge translation and clinical practice and challenge current assumptions to reshape mental health resources and how they are created.

Medicines for ADHD: They work, but are they safe?

Meta-analyses show that medication is an effective treatment pathway in children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD. These medications are also commonly associated with a number of side effects and risk factors for other conditions, which are less well understood by practitioners. This Grand Round intends to balance understanding of the efficacy of ADHD medication with the potential risks, and provide evidence for the safety of ADHD medication prescription in clinical practice.

Mentally healthy primary schools: A state-wide initiative to increase the capacity of schools to support children

In recent years there has been increasing policy attention paid to child mental health, at a state and national level, given the marked increase in mental health problems in children. In addition to causing distress for children and families, when mental health difficulties are not addressed in a timely way, they can become entrenched and have serious effects into adult life.

Measuring and moving on the child and youth mental healthcare system: Reflections from Canada

This session will describe a 10 year initiative to develop a data and evaluation platform for children and youth mental health and service delivery in Ontario, Canada’s largest province.  The session will touch on the advantages and limitations of using routinely collected health system data for surveillance and performance measurement, and challenges in evaluating a large, system wide policy strategy to improve early identification and coordination of care for children and youth with mental health disorders. 

Making mental health everyone’s business, an update on the Campus Mental Health Strategy

The Melbourne Children’s Campus (the Campus) has the culture and expertise to provide our infants, children and young people, and their families with world class mental health care (The RCH), built on sound evidence (MCRI), and workforce training and education (University of Melbourne, Department of Paediatrics). The integration of mental health research, education and care across the Campus underpins the Campus Mental Health Strategy (Strategy), a five-year Strategy that has been funded for the first 2 years by The RCH Foundation. A team of 14 people will lead and implement the Strategy, supported by many leaders and staff from across the Campus.

Working together to optimise children’s mental health: The Campus Mental Health Strategy

Mental Health is an issue of growing concern across the community. This has been amplified through the COVID-19 pandemic. Child mental health is also an ongoing priority for the Melbourne Children’s Campus (MCC) and its three partners. The RCH treats many vulnerable patient groups (e.g., children with chronic illness, neurodevelopmental disorders, psychosocial challenges) with elevated risk of psychological and mental health difficulties. This extends across our inpatient and outpatient services and into the community. Despite this, mental health services can be fragmented and difficult to access.