Kids with confidence: a program for adolescents living in families affected by mental illness.

Objective: To provide information about a peer support program for adolescents living in families affected by mental illness.

Design: This is a descriptive article about the Kids with Confidence Adolescent Program.

Setting: The program operates in rural Victoria using a variety of community venues.

Challenging roles: insights into issues for men caring for family members with mental illness.

Assumptions informing expectations of caring may not reflect the diversity of circumstances in which informal care is provided, and scant attention has been given to the experiences of men providing care to family members. This study reports on qualitative findings from a study that explored these issues among rural men caring for partners or children with a range of mental illnesses. The findings suggest that the primary relationship between carers and care recipients influences the ways in which the men understand and practice their caring roles.

Quality of housing among patients of an area mental health service.

Objectives: The aims of the present study were to (i) assess the quality of housing for patients receiving treatment from an area mental health service; (ii) compare estimates of quality of housing using two different methods: housing type versus housing characteristics; (iii) determine whether either method for assessing quality is more useful that a combination; and (iv) examine the relationship between housing quality and case manager's assessment of the impact of the housing on the patient's mental disorder.

Methods: A survey was developed that included the demographics of the patient; housing type; living arrangements; housing characteristics as assessed by the patient's case manager; and an overall assessment by the case manager of the impact that the housing has on the patient's mental disorder. Case managers were asked to complete the housing survey on all patients they saw in the community during a 2 week period in 2003.

Involving carers in mental health service development.

Objective: A project designed to enhance carer participation in a mental health service is described.

Method: Carers of people with a mental illness were involved in reviewing and developing policies, and developing a carer rights and responsibilities booklet.

Results: Policies relevant to carers of people with a mental illness were reviewed and updated, and new policies developed to cover existing gaps.

Service utilisation by rural residents with mental health problems.

Objective: To examine the level and type of service utilisation by rural residents for mental health problems, and to explore the influence of level of need, sociodemographic factors and town size on such service use.

Method: This was a cross-sectional, community-based study. Subjects were recruited from three locales in rural north-west Victoria: a large regional centre, towns of 5,000-20,000 population and towns of <5,000 population.

Help-seeking by rural residents for mental health problems: the importance of agrarian values.

Objective: To examine the role of stoicism, self-efficacy and perceived stigma in predicting help-seeking by rural residents, for mental health problems.

Method: A cross-sectional community survey was conducted with a sample of 467 rural residents (58% female), who completed self-report questionnaires assessing current levels of symptomatology, disability, perceived stigma, self-efficacy, stoicism, attitudes towards and experience of seeking help for psychological problems.

Results: Overall, 27.

The influence of stigma and attitudes on seeking help from a GP for mental health problems: a rural context.

Background: Lack of mental health specialists in rural and remote communities suggest that rural communities depend more on general practitioners (GPs) for mental health care. Residents of rural communities are less likely than urban residents to seek help from their GPs for mental health issues. The aim of the current study was to examine whether attitudinal factors including perceived stigma, influenced rural residents seeking help from GPs.

Consultation-liaison psychiatry services to nursing homes.

Objective: The aim of the present paper is to review current opinion relating to the provision of mental health consultation to nursing homes, and to provide recommendations for future research.

Method: The current literature pertaining to consultation-liaison psychiatry within nursing homes was reviewed.

Results: There is a paucity of well-designed empirical studies of mental health service provision to Australian nursing homes.

Therapeutic group programme for women with postnatal depression in rural Victoria: a pilot study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a therapeutic group programme, provided by community health workers, in reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms associated with postnatal depression (PND) among women living in a rural setting.

Method: A prospective repeated measures design was used. Women reporting difficulties in the postnatal period were recruited through community health services.

Nature of depression in patients with HIV/AIDS.

Objective: Existing research suggests that the rate of depressive illness and depressive symptoms are high in people living with HIV/AIDS, but investigations on the causes of depression provide conflicting results. Social, psychological and biological factors have all been suggested as possible causes of depression in people living with HIV/AIDS. The suggestion that depression may be the result of the neurotropic effects of the virus on the central nervous system leading to an 'organic' or secondary depression has major implications in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

A model of supervision in mental health for general practitioners.

Objective: If general practitioners (GPs) are to provide effective ongoing care to patients with mental health difficulties, it is argued that they need access to effective supervision. This paper aims to describe a specific framework for the provision of supervision to GPs involved in mental health-related work in a rural area.

Conclusions: An innovative model of supervision is currently being trialled with GP practices in the Bendigo area of country Victoria.

Helping carers care: an education programme for rural carers of people with a mental illness.

Objective: To provide descriptive information about a short-term educational programme for rural carers of people with a mental illness, living in the Loddon Campaspe Southern Mallee region.

Method: The Carers Education Exchange Programme is a flexible, needs-based model that can be modified to cater for individual groups. It consists of a number of sessions on topics relevant to caring for someone with a mental illness, held over a period of several weeks.

Introducing a professional development programme to a rural area mental health service: the importance of context.

Objective: To describe the introduction of an ongoing professional development programme for clinicians in a rural area mental health service. The programme involved a series of workshops delivered by clinical psychologists. The training component of each workshop focused on discrete cognitive behavioural strategies, targeted at the amelioration of anxiety and mood symptoms.

Rural Integrated Primary Care Psychiatry Programme: a systems approach to education, training and service integration.

Objective: To describe the development of a rural primary care psychiatry programme, within a stepped collaborative care model.

Conclusion: Development of a system-wide approach to the provision of mental health services offers the opportunity to increase the proportion of people with mental health problems who receive effective treatment. In addition, it enables allocation of resources and matching of interventions to patient preference and clinical need.

Identifying marginal housing for people with a mental illness living in rural and regional areas.

Objective: Homelessness among people with a mental illness is a serious issue. The purpose of the present study was to identify the types of housing available for people with a mental illness in the region, to develop an audit tool to assess the housing of patients of the mental health service, and to pilot this audit tool.

Methods: Key informants were interviewed to obtain information about the type of housing options available in the Loddon Campaspe Southern Mallee Region, Victoria, Australia.

Changing places: the impact of rural restructuring on mental health in Australia.

Significant demographic, social and economic change has come to characterise much of rural Australia, with some authors arguing there are now two sharply differentiated zones, one of growth and one of decline. This restructuring process, which has been similar to other western nations, has had a profound impact upon rural places-socially, economically and physically. Findings from research investigating the relationship between health, place and income inequality suggest that rural 'desertification', which is characterised by decline of the agricultural sector, net population loss and the deterioration of demographic structures, may negatively influence mental health outcomes in these areas.

Dual relationships in mental health practice: issues for clinicians in rural settings.

Objective: This paper aims to provide an overview of the literature on non-sexual dual relationships, and to discuss these in the context of rural mental health practice in Australia.

Method: An internet-driven literature search was undertaken using OVID databases, which include MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and EMBASE: Psychiatry. Ethical codes of practice for the mental health professions of psychiatry, psychology, occupational therapy, social work and nursing were referred to.

Parenting programs for women with mental illness who have young children: a review.

Objective: To provide an overview of the literature relevant to, and describing, parenting programs for women with mental illness who have young children.

Method: A literature search was undertaken, including MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and EMBASE: Psychiatry. Searches were limited to English journals and books and to the last five years in the first instance, with earlier literature considered where appropriate.

An ethnographic study of three mental health triage programs.

Triage processes are commonly used to manage the interface between demand for, and supply of, health services. This dimension of service provision is particularly pertinent for mental health services in Australia, where demand outweighs services available. This paper draws on the experiences of using participant observation to explore mental health triage processes.

Interpersonal counselling in general practice.

Background: Interpersonal counselling (IPC) derives from interpersonal psycho-therapy (IPT) but is briefer in the number and duration of sessions and is particularly suited to the primary care setting. While depression and other psychological symptoms are not necessarily 'caused' by interpersonal problems, they do occur in a social and interpersonal context. Problem areas commonly associated with the onset of depression are unresolved grief, interpersonal disputes, role transition and interpersonal deficits such as social isolation.

Training case managers to deliver focused psychological strategies.

Anxiety and mood disorders are prevalent in the Australian community and can be functionally disabling. Access to treatment for these disorders can be difficult, particularly in rural areas where there is limited availability of specialist mental health practitioners such as psychiatrists and clinical psychologists. One way to address this problem is to improve the skills of local mental health practitioners in recognizing and providing treatment for these disorders.

First year of practice visits for the Rural Depression Anxiety Research and Treatment General Practice program.

Objective: To describe the first 12 months activities of a key component of a General Practice Psychiatry program - the GP practice visit.

Design: Questionnaire to evaluate effects on participating general practitioners practice.

Setting: Rural group general practices.