Publications by authors named "Sara Grant"

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and recovery period have exacerbated workforce challenges for nurses and midwives. The increasingly complex nature of healthcare, combined with rising workloads and staff attrition highlights the need for initiatives that improve workplace satisfaction and retention. In response, mentoring programs aimed at enhancing job satisfaction and retention are being increasingly implemented.

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Objective: To compare rates of participation in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) and follow-up for people with severe mental illness with those for people without severe mental illness or not prescribed antidepressants.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study; analysis of de-identified linked NBCSP, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), and Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) data.

Setting: Australia, 2006-2019.

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Article Synopsis
  • People with psychosis face higher rates of early death and disproportionately interact with the criminal justice system, but the impact of criminal penalties on their mortality remains understudied.
  • This study investigated how various types of recent criminal sanctions, like court diversion and imprisonment, affect mortality rates in individuals with psychotic disorders, using comprehensive data from New South Wales, Australia.
  • Results showed that out of 83,071 participants, nearly one-third had received a criminal sanction, and the research aimed to identify the causes of death and differences in mortality rates based on the type of sanction applied, with a focus on those under 65 years old.
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Objective: To identify factors associated with receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for serious psychiatric conditions.

Methods: Retrospective observational study using hospital administrative data linked with death registrations and outpatient mental health data in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The cohort included patients admitted with a primary psychiatric diagnosis between 2013 and 2022.

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Background: There is uncertainty about factors associated with involuntary in-patient psychiatric care. Understanding these factors would help in reducing coercion in psychiatry.

Aims: To explore variables associated with involuntary care in the largest database of involuntary admissions published.

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Introduction: This paper will describe the research protocol for the Deadly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nursing and Midwifery Mentoring (DANMM) Project, which will determine the feasibility and acceptability of a cultural mentoring programme designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives across five diverse local health districts in New South Wales, Australia. Government and health agencies highlight the importance of culturally appropriate and safe environments for Aboriginal people. Specifically, New South Wales Health prioritises workforce strategies that support Aboriginal people to enter and stay in the health workforce.

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To assess the mental health conditions, as indicated by mental health service contact in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) diagnosed with cancer in New South Wales (NSW) and associations with cancer mortality. In 3998 NSW AYAs diagnosed with cancer in 2005-2017, mental health service contacts were obtained from hospital inpatient records and specified medical and pharmaceutical insurance claims. Odds of postcancer mental health contact were assessed by precancer mental contacts using logistic regression adjusted for sociodemographic and cancer characteristics.

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Objective: Women living with mental health conditions have lower cervical cancer screening rates and higher mortality. More evidence is needed to target health system improvement efforts. We describe overall and age-specific cervical cancer screening rates in mental health service users in New South Wales.

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Background: Women living with mental health conditions may not have shared in improvements in breast cancer screening and care. No studies have directly examined the link between reduced screening participation and breast cancer spread in women using mental health (MH) services.

Methods: Population-wide linkage of a population cancer register, BreastScreen register, and mental health service data set in women aged 50 to 74 years in New South Wales, Australia, from 2008 to 2017.

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Purpose: Population screening programs have contributed to reduced breast cancer mortality, but disadvantaged or vulnerable groups may not have shared these improvements. In North American and European studies, women living with mental health conditions have reduced breast screening rates. There are no current Australasian data to support health system planning and improvement strategies.

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Background: Vaccine-preventable conditions cause preventable illness and may increase mortality in people living with mental illness. We examined how risks of hospitalisation for a wide range of vaccine-preventable conditions varied by age and sex among mental health (MH) service users.

Methods: Linked population data from New South Wales (NSW), Australia were used to identify vaccine-preventable hospitalisations (VPH) for 19 conditions from 2015 to 2020.

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: To examine the experiences of culturally safe mentoring programmes described by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives in Australia.: A systematic scoping review.: The following databases were accessed: CINAHL Plus with Full Text (EBSCO), EMCARE (Ovid), MEDLINE (Ovid), INFORMIT (Health Collection/Indigenous Collection) and SCOPUS.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study estimates the length of hospital stays for COVID-19 patients in New South Wales, comparing periods dominated by the Delta and Omicron variants.
  • Results showed that the mean length of stay decreased for all age groups during the mixed Omicron-Delta epidemic compared to the earlier Delta period.
  • These findings suggest that shorter hospital stays helped ease the strain on the healthcare system despite a rise in COVID-19 infections.
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Background And Objectives: Substance use disorders co-occurring with other mental health disorders are common and harmful. Clinical guidelines often recommend substance use screening and brief intervention though evidence about screening practice in mental health services is limited. This systematic review of routine clinical practice in adult mental health services aims to identify (a) proportions of screening and brief intervention, (b) how they are practised and (c) their outcomes.

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Background: An association exists between psychosis and criminal offending, which evidence suggests can be reduced by effective mental health care for this vulnerable population. However mental health services often lose contact with people after diagnosis. The association between the first episode of psychosis and criminal offending highlights the need for effective mental health care for this vulnerable population.

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Aims: People with severe mental illness (SMI) have a greater risk of dying from colorectal cancer (CRC), even though the incidence is lower or similar to that of the general population This pattern is unlikely to be solely explained by lifestyle factors, while the role of differences in cancer healthcare access or treatment is uncertain.

Methods: We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis on access to guideline-appropriate care following CRC diagnosis in people with SMI including the receipt of surgery, chemo- or radiotherapy. We searched for full-text articles indexed by PubMed, EMBASE, PsychInfo and CINAHL that compared CRC treatment in those with and without pre-existing SMI (schizophrenia, schizoaffective, bipolar and major affective disorders).

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With already wide disparities in physical health and life expectancy, COVID-19 presents people with mental illness with additional threats to their health: decreased access to health services, increased social isolation, and increased socio-economic disadvantage. Each of these factors has exacerbated the risk of poor health and early death for people with mental illness post-COVID-19. Unless effective primary care and preventative health responses are implemented, the physical illness epidemic for this group will increase post the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to explore the link between mental health service usage and reoffending rates among individuals diagnosed with psychosis in New South Wales, Australia.
  • It found that a significant percentage (70%) of offenders with psychosis had contact with mental health services, and those with more clinical visits had a lower risk of reoffending, with those having no contact being over five times more likely to reoffend.
  • The results suggest that improving access to mental health services for individuals with psychosis could help lower their chances of reoffending, highlighting the importance of mental health support in the criminal justice system.
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Background: The success of electronic medical records (EMRs) is dependent on implementation features, such as usability and fit with clinical processes. The use of EMRs in mental health settings brings additional and specific challenges owing to the personal, detailed, narrative, and exploratory nature of the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment in this field. Understanding the determinants of successful EMR implementation is imperative to guide the future design, implementation, and investment of EMRs in the mental health field.

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