Parent-reported Mental Health Problems and Mental Health Services Use in South Australian School-aged Children.

Background: Monitoring and reporting childhood mental health problems and mental health services utilization over time provide important information to identify mental health related issues and to guide early intervention. This paper aims to describe the recent prevalence of parent-reported mental health problems among South Australian (SA) children; to identify mental health problems associated characteristics; and to describe mental health services utilization and its related characteristics among this population.

Methods: Parent-reported mental health problems were assessed against the first item of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire.

Health in All Policies in South Australia: what has supported early implementation?

Health in All Policies (HiAP) is a policy development approach that facilitates intersectoral responses to addressing the social determinants of health and health equity whilst, at the same time, contributing to policy priorities across the various sectors of government. Given that different models of HiAP have been implemented in at least 16 countries, there is increasing interest in how its effectiveness can be optimized. Much of the existing literature on HiAP remains descriptive, however, and lacks critical, empirically informed analyses of the elements that support implementation.

Evaluation of Health in All Policies: concept, theory and application.

This article describes some of the crucial theoretical, methodological and practical issues that need to be considered when evaluating Health in All Policies (HiAP) initiatives. The approaches that have been applied to evaluate HiAP in South Australia are drawn upon as case studies, and early findings from this evaluative research are provided. The South Australian evaluation of HiAP is based on a close partnership between researchers and public servants.

Health Impact Assessment in New South Wales & Health in All Policies in South Australia: differences, similarities and connections.

Background: Policy decisions made within all sectors have the potential to influence population health and equity. Recognition of this provides impetus for the health sector to engage with other sectors to facilitate the development of policies that recognise, and aim to improve, population outcomes. This paper compares the approaches implemented to facilitate such engagement in two Australian jurisdictions.

"I know I have arthritis but I don't know what type". Understanding and knowledge of this chronic condition.

Background: "Arthritis" is a common musculoskeletal condition but the knowledge of what type of arthritis people have, may be limited but may have changed over time in response to campaigns, increased awareness and improved health literacy. This paper describes people who did not know what type of arthritis they had, by a range of relevant demographic and socioeconomic variables, and assesses changes over time in the proportion of people who report having arthritis but do not know what type, using representative population surveillance data.

Methods: Data were collected using the South Australian Monitoring and Surveillance System (SAMSS), a risk factor surveillance system where each month, a representative random sample of South Australians is selected from the Electronic White Pages, with interviews conducted using computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI).