Understanding and responding to online child sexual exploitation offenders. The development of online communication technologies has facilitated a growth in online child sexual exploitation over the past two decades. Using a data-linkage framework, this project aims to enhance understanding of online child sexual exploitation, the legal frameworks surrounding this issue, and the unique characteristics, risks and needs of online sexual offenders. Expected outcomes include increased knowledge to i ....Understanding and responding to online child sexual exploitation offenders. The development of online communication technologies has facilitated a growth in online child sexual exploitation over the past two decades. Using a data-linkage framework, this project aims to enhance understanding of online child sexual exploitation, the legal frameworks surrounding this issue, and the unique characteristics, risks and needs of online sexual offenders. Expected outcomes include increased knowledge to inform current law enforcement and sentencing practices and the development of risk assessment and intervention protocols for clinical use with online offenders. This should increase evidence-based practice with online sexual offenders and assist in preventing the sexual exploitation of children online and in the community.Read moreRead less
Enhancing wellbeing and resilience within prisons: A psycho-educational approach for the missing middle. Many prisoners experience mental illness and psychological distress, which has been found to relate to repeat offending. Moreover, prison officers also experience high levels of anxiety and distress. This project aims to identify the mental health needs and factors that lead to psychological distress among prisoners and prison officers. Brief intervention programs intend to be developed to ad ....Enhancing wellbeing and resilience within prisons: A psycho-educational approach for the missing middle. Many prisoners experience mental illness and psychological distress, which has been found to relate to repeat offending. Moreover, prison officers also experience high levels of anxiety and distress. This project aims to identify the mental health needs and factors that lead to psychological distress among prisoners and prison officers. Brief intervention programs intend to be developed to address the needs of the ‘missing middle’ (those with elevated levels of distress who are not receiving services). The programs aim to be evaluated to determine whether they are preventing mental health deterioration among participants and whether the results reduce repeat incarceration for prisoners and increase job satisfaction and performance for officers.Read moreRead less
Improving mental health nurses’ retention and quality of nursing practice. This project aims to improve mental health nurses’ resilience, retention and quality of practice through implementation of a resilience-building program. There is a critical national shortage of nurses in mental health, and attrition of the mental health nursing workforce is due in large part to workplace stressors. As a world-first in the field, the study will compare outcomes for mental health nurses who participate in ....Improving mental health nurses’ retention and quality of nursing practice. This project aims to improve mental health nurses’ resilience, retention and quality of practice through implementation of a resilience-building program. There is a critical national shortage of nurses in mental health, and attrition of the mental health nursing workforce is due in large part to workplace stressors. As a world-first in the field, the study will compare outcomes for mental health nurses who participate in the resilience program with a group of nurses who do not. Extending on a successful pilot, we expect the outcomes to be improved nurse resilience, turnover intention, and quality of nursing practice, and reduced negative psychological impacts of workplace stress. Read moreRead less
Development of a comprehensive model and programmed intervention for emotion processing deficits in childhood-onset mental health problems. This research is in the National Research Priority, promoting and maintaining good health. Mental health problems cost Australia millions of dollars every year as well as creating immeasurable social adversity for individuals and families. The proposed research represents a significant step towards reducing these costs and improving the effectiveness of earl ....Development of a comprehensive model and programmed intervention for emotion processing deficits in childhood-onset mental health problems. This research is in the National Research Priority, promoting and maintaining good health. Mental health problems cost Australia millions of dollars every year as well as creating immeasurable social adversity for individuals and families. The proposed research represents a significant step towards reducing these costs and improving the effectiveness of early intervention and prevention. The research will lead to improvements in methods for early detection of child psychopathology with potential for implementation in both community health and educational services nation-wide. The research partnership will build Australia's capacity for innovative research in the development, early intervention and treatment of mental health problems.Read moreRead less
Deakin Family Options: engaging youth with high prevalence mental health problems using family based interventions. Youth depression, anxiety and substance abuse are prevalent, distressing and costly problems impacting one in five young Australians. This collaborative project - called ‘Deakin Family Options’ - will evaluate a family based intervention in order to broaden the therapeutic approaches used for young people and their families.
Stopping the run-around: comorbidity action in the north (CAN). The purpose of the project is to identify the barriers and facilitators to effective use of mental health and drug and alcohol services in a metropolitan region of South Australia. The evidence base will then drive the development and implementation of effective change to service delivery to improve outcomes for people with comorbidity.
Improving management decisions in mental health care through applications of advanced simulation modelling. Evidence to inform management decisions about the best way to structure mental health care services is currently lacking. This project will develop a simulation modelling tool that will allow managers to explore various service configurations in virtual reality, enabling predictions to be made about the cost and quality of care.
Developing useable markers of mental health deterioration. The project aims to improve risk management in mental health. Risk management in mental health is currently hampered because there is no nationally agreed set of markers of deterioration. One strand of the project aims to improve safety procedures by identifying the bases of decisions about adverse outcomes (i.e. symptom deterioration) and testing this knowledge to understand and predict other adverse events (e.g. non-suicidal self-injur ....Developing useable markers of mental health deterioration. The project aims to improve risk management in mental health. Risk management in mental health is currently hampered because there is no nationally agreed set of markers of deterioration. One strand of the project aims to improve safety procedures by identifying the bases of decisions about adverse outcomes (i.e. symptom deterioration) and testing this knowledge to understand and predict other adverse events (e.g. non-suicidal self-injury). A second strand aims to improve prediction of clinical deterioration and non-suicidal self-injury. By identifying ways to inform and implement decisions about risk management, the project intends to lay a foundation for the development of a nationally agreed set of markers for mental health deterioration to be used in occupational safety and health processes.Read moreRead less
Improving the physical and oral health of people with severe mental illness: using Normalisation Process Theory to support new practices. The physical health of people with severe mental illness is extremely poor, often due to inadequate attention to their health needs by health professionals in primary care and the public mental health system. This project will focus on how practices can be changed to improve the health of this population and increase their access to preventative healthcare.
Why are people with eating disorders reluctant to engage with treatment services? In seeking to understand why many people with eating disorders do not seek or are reluctant to seek help, this project will make an important contribution to new developments in the prevention of, and intervention into, eating disorders in the Australian community.