A Longitudinal Study Of Psychopathology In People With Intellectual Disability
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$999,803.00
Summary
This project will further develop the research opportunities of an internationally unique 15 year follow up study of the mental health of young Australians with ID. We have shown that this group has 2-3 times the risk of suffering serious emotional and behavioural problems that are an added heavy burden on the individual, their family and carers and the community. These problems often are not recognised but are as common as schizophrenia in the community. The study will continue to use a combina ....This project will further develop the research opportunities of an internationally unique 15 year follow up study of the mental health of young Australians with ID. We have shown that this group has 2-3 times the risk of suffering serious emotional and behavioural problems that are an added heavy burden on the individual, their family and carers and the community. These problems often are not recognised but are as common as schizophrenia in the community. The study will continue to use a combination of questionnaire survey and in depth interviews of the young adults and their families or carers to track the course of their mental health. The study commenced in 1990 with nearly 1000 young people with ID aged 4-18 years and their progress has been reviewed every 2-3 years in over 75% of the original group. During the next 5 years we plan to follow their mental health during the critical stage of young adult life. During this time there is the greatest risk of mental illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia and the stresses of adjusting to new daily occupations, independent living or residential care and social contact away from the family. We will be able to study the specific emotional and behavioural problems faced by young adults with the main known causes of ID such as Down, Fragile X, Prader Willi and William Syndromes, as well as those who have autism. The great benefit of a long term follow up study is that it allows us to study the links between earlier family environmental, psychological and biological factors and subsequent mental health problems. We can also demonstrate the impact that mental illness in a young person with ID has on the family and parental mental health. The findings have implications for better diagnosis, improved care and management, early intervention and prevention of these common severe and under recognized mental health problems in this disadvantaged group of young Australians and their families and carers.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100637
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$322,534.00
Summary
Finding the Path: Service access and navigation for serious mental illness. This project aims to inform health system change to ensure people with serious mental illness can access quality services. While improved access to quality mental health services has been a key target in Australian health policy for over 20 years, people with mental illness continue to report problems accessing and navigating the complex service system. The project aims to study consumers' mental health service experienc ....Finding the Path: Service access and navigation for serious mental illness. This project aims to inform health system change to ensure people with serious mental illness can access quality services. While improved access to quality mental health services has been a key target in Australian health policy for over 20 years, people with mental illness continue to report problems accessing and navigating the complex service system. The project aims to study consumers' mental health service experiences using policy, qualitative, quantitative and geographic analysis to identify systemic problems. Mental health consumers and service providers will be actively involved in developing final policy recommendations to ensure system change reflects their knowledge.Read moreRead less
Improving methods of grading, transferring and facilitating translation of knowledge in population health. This project will develop methods by which research in population health can be better used by policy makers. It will develop a grading system to assist research consumers to work out the best evidence. Interviews and surveys of policy makers will be conducted to work out how to optimise the way the best evidence can be used in practice.