Mental Health

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.

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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. 

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Wadja Family Place in Focus, and what can RCH staff do to support Aboriginal patients and their families

The NAIDOC Week Grand Round will highlight how Wadja Aboriginal Family Place has provided excellence and leadership in health services to Aboriginal Children and their families at the Royal Children’s Hospital. Wadja works collaboratively in partnership in the areas of child health assessments, advocacy, liaison, research, mental health, education, and family support to improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal children and young people.  

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The mental health of sick babies in hospital: Risks, vulnerabilities, and the impact of COVID-19

Hospitalisation for treatment of serious illness can place infants, and their families, at risk with respect to their mental health. Trauma responses are common, and optimal infant-parent relationship development may be disrupted. Significant additional environmental and psychosocial burdens were placed on this group in 2020 as a consequence of measures adopted to protect the community from COVID-19.

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Disability and family violence: learning from the voice of lived experience

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.

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Busting the Superhero Myth – Our Mental Health during a pandemic

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.   

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How can a 10 year old be sent to prison in Australia?

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. 

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Better Together: Improving Mental Health Care for Children and Adolescents in Victoria

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.

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Patient Reported Outcomes in children’s health services: why should we use them and how can they be embedded in Epic?

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.

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Transgender adolescents and hormone treatment: The role of The Royal Children’s Hospital in changing the law to improve treatment access across Australia

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.

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