Trends in access to clinical mental healthcare by very old people in Australia since 'Better Access' commenced in 2006.

Objectives: To examine trends in access to mental healthcare by old and very old people since the commencement of Australia's Better Access Initiative in 2006.

Methods: Descriptive analysis of changes in access by people aged 75-84 and over 85 using data analysed and published by the AIHW.

Results: Since the introduction of Better Access, rates of access to specialist inpatient and community mental healthcare have reduced for those aged 75 years and older.

Development of the post-traumatic stress disorder assessment scale for emergency services.

This paper describes the development and validation of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Assessment Scale for Emergency Services (PASES). The PASES was developed to address the needs of Australia's first National Mental Health and Wellbeing Study of Police and Emergency Services, which covered Police, Ambulance, Fire and Rescue and State Emergency Services personnel. PASES offers several advantages for use in the emergency services sector over other Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) screening scales, including assessment of functional impairment, a dimensional measure of severity which includes identification of sub-threshold cases experiencing distress and impairment, and allowing for experience of cumulative trauma.

Work-related impacts on doctors' mental health: a qualitative study exploring organisational and systems-level risk factors.

Background: Protecting doctors' mental health has typically focused on individuals, rather than addressing organisational and structural-level factors in the work environment.

Objectives: This study uses the socioecological model (SEM) to illuminate and explore how these broader factors inform the mental health of individual doctors.

Design: Semi-structured interviews (20-25 hours) and ethnographic observations (90 hours) involving work shadowing doctors (n=14).

Exploring practice staffs' perspectives regarding professional roles, confidence, and motivations in delivering mental health care within rural general practice: a qualitative exploration.

Background: General practice is pivotal in delivering mental health care within communities, yet the attitudes and professional factors influencing this provision remain underexplored. This study seeks to understand the perspective of general practice staff around the professional factors that influence the provision of primary mental health care.

Methods: A qualitative study was conducted with semi-structured interviews of 14 general practice staff involved in mental health care.

Women veteran transition mental health and well-being support group programs: A scoping review.

Background: The military is a male-dominated environment and culture in which women veterans can experience significant institutional prejudice. Transition can be confusing and isolating for women veterans. Group programs are an important source of transition support.

Gambling Harm-Minimisation Tools and Their Impact on Gambling Behaviour: A Review of the Empirical Evidence.

The harms accompanying disordered gambling are well documented. Additionally, there is growing attention to the harms that arise from people who gamble heavily but do not meet the criteria for a gambling disorder. Accordingly, there has been an increasing interest in the effectiveness of consumer protection tools for consumers of gambling products.

A Scoping Review of Interventions Targeting the Mental Health of Australian Veterans.

Serving in the military can have significant impacts on the mental health of veterans and their families. Military personnel can be exposed to a range of physical stressors, psychological trauma, risky lifestyle factors, a regimented military culture, and inadequate support when transitioning out of service. This article reviews research on interventions designed to improve the mental health of Australian military veterans in order to synthesise current knowledge and identify gaps in the literature.

Risk prevalence, readiness and confidence to change lifestyle risk factors among clients of community mental health services.

Objective: People with mental health conditions have high rates of chronic physical diseases, partially attributable to lifestyle risks factors. This study examined risk prevalence among community mental health service clients, their readiness and confidence to change, and associations with participant characteristics.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey of adult clients from 12 community mental health services across 3 local health districts in New South Wales, Australia, collected from 2021 to 2022.

Talking about borderline personality disorder, shaping care: The multiple doings of narratives.

This article focuses on the narratives that circulate about borderline personality disorder (BPD) in health-care settings in Australia and the effects such narratives can have on how people practice and seek out care. People with a BPD diagnosis frequently access health-care services, often encountering stigma and discrimination. Drawing on narrative theory, we critically unpack the circulation and capacities of BPD narratives and the ways they can often contribute to poor and troubling experiences.

Evaluation of lived experience Peer Support intervention for mental health service consumers in Primary Care (PS-PC): study protocol for a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: The demand for mental health services in Australia is substantial and has grown beyond the capacity of the current workforce. As a result, it is currently difficult for many to access secondary healthcare providers. Within the secondary healthcare sector, however, peer workers who have lived experience of managing mental health conditions have been increasingly employed to intentionally use their journey of recovery in supporting others living with mental health conditions and their communities.

No Women's Land: Australian Women Veterans' Experiences of the Culture of Military Service and Transition.

Women's experiences of military service and transition occur within a highly dominant masculinized culture. The vast majority of research on military veterans reflects men's experiences and needs. Women veterans' experiences, and therefore their transition support needs, are largely invisible.

Shortcomings of services for persons with severe and persistent mental health challenges: a qualitative study of service users and family carers.

Introduction: The opinions of service users and carers are crucial to identifying ways to innovate and implement system change. This study aims to explore the views and experiences of service users and carerson the services they have used for their mental health challenges and their suggestions for service reform.

Methods: Twenty participants (15 carers and 5 service users) were interviewed for the study.

"Somebody was standing in my corner": a mixed methods exploration of survivor, coach, and hospital staff perspectives and outcomes in an Australian cancer survivorship program.

Purpose: Cancer survivorship in Australia continues to increase due to new methods for early detection and treatment. Cancer survivors face challenges in the survivorship phase and require ongoing support. A telephone-delivered cancer survivorship program (CSP), including health and mental health coaches, was developed, piloted, and evaluated in Eastern Australia.

Indonesia free from pasung: a policy analysis.

Background: Many people with mental illnesses remain isolated, chained, and inside cages, called Pasung in Indonesia. Despite numerous policies introduced to eradicate Pasung, Indonesia has made slow progress in decreasing this practice. This policy analysis examined existing policies, plans and initiatives in Indonesia targeted at eradicating Pasung.

Comorbidities and their management in women with breast cancer-an Australian survey of breast cancer survivors.

Purpose: Breast cancer survivors experience significant burden from comorbid chronic conditions, but little is known about how well these conditions are managed. We conducted a national survey of Australian breast cancer survivors to examine the burden of chronic conditions, their impact and care alignment with the principles of chronic condition management.

Methods: A study-specific survey incorporated questions about chronic conditions using the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), functional status using the Vulnerable Elders Survey (VES) and perceived quality of care for cancer and non-cancer conditions using the Patient Assessment of Care for Chronic Conditions Survey (PACIC).

Families' experiences of supporting Australian veterans to seek help for a mental health problem: a linked data analysis of national surveys with families and veterans.

Background: Families play a critical role in supporting currently serving and transitioned veterans' wellbeing and help-seeking for mental health concerns; however, little is known about families' experiences.

Aims: This study used Australian national survey linked-data (n = 1217) from families (Family Wellbeing Study-FWS) and veterans (Mental Health Wellbeing Transition Study-MHWTS) to understand veteran-family help-seeking relationships.

Methods: Veterans' and family members' responses to mental health and help-seeking questions in FWS and MHWTS datasets from perspective of family members were cross-tabulated.

Understanding Men's Engagement and Disengagement When Seeking Support for Mental Health.

Men are less likely to utilize health care services compared with women. When it comes to mental health, men have been reported to hold more reluctant attitudes toward engaging with mental health services. Current studies have predominantly been quantitative and focused on understanding effective strategies to promote men's engagement and why men may avoid help-seeking or may not seek help early; few studies exist of men's disengagement from services.

Efficacy of mindfulness and goal setting interventions for increasing resilience and reducing smoking in lower socio-economic groups: randomised controlled trial protocol.

Background: Smoking and resulting health problems disproportionately impact low socioeconomic status (SES) individuals. Building resilience presents an approach to 'closing the gap'. Mindfulness-based interventions and setting realistic goals are preferred in low socioeconomic communities.

Mental health outcome measures in the Australian context: what is the problem represented to be?

Background: There is growing interest in the use of routine outcome measures (ROM) in mental health services worldwide. Australia has been at the forefront of introducing ROM in public mental health services, with the aim of improving services and consumer outcomes.

Methods: An in-depth policy and document analysis was conducted using Carol Bacchi's 'What is the problem represented to be?' approach to critically analyse the use of ROM.

Clinical guidelines for the use of lifestyle-based mental health care in major depressive disorder: World Federation of Societies for Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) and Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine (ASLM) taskforce.

Objectives: The primary objectives of these international guidelines were to provide a global audience of clinicians with (a) a series of evidence-based recommendations for the provision of lifestyle-based mental health care in clinical practice for adults with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and (b) a series of implementation considerations that may be applicable across a range of settings.

Methods: Recommendations and associated evidence-based gradings were based on a series of systematic literature searches of published research as well as the clinical expertise of taskforce members. The focus of the guidelines was eight lifestyle domains: physical activity and exercise, smoking cessation, work-directed interventions, mindfulness-based and stress management therapies, diet, sleep, loneliness and social support, and green space interaction.

A randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of a self-management program for adolescents with a chronic condition: a study protocol.

Background: Self-management support is increasingly viewed as an integral part of chronic condition management in adolescence. It is well recognized that markers of chronic illness control deteriorate during adolescence. Due to the increasing prevalence of long-term chronic health conditions in childhood and improved survival rates of previously life-limiting conditions in children and adolescents, significant numbers of adolescents are having to manage their chronic condition effectively as they transition to adult health care.