Interpersonal violence against people with disabilities is a major public health concern. The COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences enhance the already increased risk for abuse among people with disabilities. This Grand Round provides both clinical strategies and a broader call to action for addressing family violence and coercive control against people with disabilities.
For several months, we have experienced significant restrictions on how we live and work. Whilst Victoria’s strict lockdown protocols are working to suppress the virus, for many of us, social isolation has taken a toll on mental health. Our new reality, and the social, mental and emotional deprivation that accompanies it, highlights that what we do in life and who we do it with, are critical to how we feel.
Currently in Australia, children as young as 10 years old can be arrested, held in police cells, taken before a magistrate and incarcerated in prison-like settings. Most children who are incarcerated are never convicted of a crime.
The current Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System is providing a focus of attention on mental health service provision. Whilst recognising the shortcomings of current services for people with mental disorders, the Commission will be able to offer deep and wide-ranging recommendations for improvements, and influence profoundly the design and delivery of mental health services into the future. Provision of mental health services for children and adolescents are a key part of their work.
Patient Reported Outcomes (PRO) have been used for decades in clinical trials, observational studies, population health surveys, and for estimates of quality of life in economic evaluations. However, the use of PROs as part of routine measurement in clinical settings is relatively new. In this Grand Round, 3 speakers will discuss the use of PROs in the UK, in mental health at RCH and integrating PROs into the EMR.
In 2004, the Family Court of Australia defined hormone treatment for transgender adolescents as a “special medical procedure”. This created a law which necessitated that all transgender adolescents were required to gain legal authority from the Family Court of Australia should they wish to medically transition to their affirmed gender identity. Even with the consent of the young person, their parents and approval of the medical team involved, court authority was required. This situation was unique to Australia, with no other jurisdiction in the world having such legal barriers to treatment.
This presentation focuses on the earliest stages of child development: the period from conception to the end of the child’s second year – known as the first 1000 days. A growing body of evidence shows that experiences during this period can have life-long consequences for health and wellbeing. The presentation is based on research for the “Strong Foundations” project and an evidence paper “Getting it right in the first 1000 days”.
“Factitious Disorders by Proxy” occur when caregivers (usually parents) exaggerate and/or fabricate symptoms and signs of illness in a child. This can sometimes be driven by an underlying personality disorder in the caregiver, or because of excessive anxiety that a serious illness is being missed by health care professionals.
This presentation will recount the early history of recognizing infant suffering and potentials, the struggles for acceptance of the concepts in psychiatry and paediatrics, as well as a look at the science of this field in the current era, along with emerging strategies for guiding community applications of research.
When this mismatch causes severe distress, it is referred to as Gender Dysphoria (GD). Although there are significant controversies in this area, there have been major steps forward in our understanding about how children experience gender, and about ways in which professionals and families themselves may be able to help.
