Integrating Substance Misuse Specialists in a Youth Early Psychosis Service: Increasing Mental Health Clinicians' Knowledge and Confidence.

Substance misuse and mental health disorders are commonly occurring co-morbidities in young people. This paper reports on a pilot project to embed three specialist Alcohol and Other Drug (AoD) workers to be embedded in a youth early psychosis service to upskill mental health clinicians in managing substance misuse. Evaluation of the project used a mixed methods approach.

The COVID PIVOT - Re-orienting Child and Youth Mental Health Care in the Light of Pandemic Restrictions.

The COVID pandemic required significant changes in the provision of youth mental health services during the period of lockdown/stay at home orders. Things which were identified as changing significantly during this period included: service via telehealth; working from home, split teams (to reduce infection risk), and social (physical) distancing. An online survey of clinicians was conducted involving both closed and open ended questions.

Supporting the Support Network: The Value of Family Peer Work in Youth Mental Health Care.

Reported rates of mental illness continue to climb amongst young Australians. In a family environment the carers of these young people play a highly influential role in their recovery process, however this responsibility can also have significant emotional, financial and health impacts on carers. This paper details the findings of an evaluation project examining the impact and effectiveness of a newly developed and implemented Family Peer Support Work model.

General Practitioners' management of young people with mental health conditions in Australia.

Aim: Detecting and diagnosing youth mental health issues can be challenging for General Practitioners (GPs) who are often the first to encounter them. One aim of this study was to understand the challenges GPs faced in identifying, treating and referring young people with mental health issues in Melbourne, Australia. A second aim was to identify gaps in GP knowledge and service provision in order to design a service and training program for GPs that addresses those gaps.

The effect of guidance in the use of routine outcome measures in clinical meetings.

Routine outcome measures (ROM) have now been introduced into all Australian public mental health services, but experience suggests that many clinical staff lack expertise in using them. In 2005 under the Quality Through Outcomes Network (QUATRO), the Victorian Department of Human Services set up three teams aimed at consolidating the use of ROM and furthering sustainability through a variety of peer-support activities. We report on an initiative undertaken by one of these teams.