Improving primary health care services for young people experiencing psychological distress and mental health problems: a personal reflection on lessons learnt from Australia and England

AbstractFor young people still at school, the school setting is vital to their mental health and wellbeing. Not only does the school environment have a direct and indirect impact on mental health, it provides an opportunistic setting in which to identify and respond to emerging mental health problems. To do this effectively, schools and school staff must work in collaboration with the young people themselves, their families, and other support services within the community, particularly primary health care services, including general practice. The importance of developing effective partnerships and care pathways between schools and the primary health care sector is being increasingly acknowledged, and initiatives such as MindMatters Plus GP have advanced our understanding in this area.

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Reflections on integrating mental health into primary health care services in remote Indigenous communities in Far North Queensland and the Northern Territory

Australian Journal of Primary Health ◽

10.1071/py05023 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 62 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Melissa Haswell-Elkins ◽

Ernest Hunter ◽

Tricia Nagel ◽

Carolyn Thompson ◽

Brenda Hall ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Primary Health Care ◽

Physical Health ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

Care Services ◽

Primary Health ◽

Primary Health Care Services ◽

Mental And Physical Health

At present, there is a perceived and functional separation of mental health services from the general delivery of primary health care services in remote Indigenous communities in most places in the country. There are a range of issues underlying this separation; many are historical but continue to influence patterns of thinking about mental and physical health. With the increasing shift of focus of care at primary level from being largely reactive to presentations of acute illnesses towards proactive and strategically guided approaches to the management of chronic diseases, coupled with similar national strategic documents guiding mental health care into a primary health care format, the opportunity to integrate the provision of mental and physical health care has never been better. Accompanying this integration should be a reflection and improvement on models of care that address needs of Indigenous people in a more culturally and contextually appropriate manner, as is clearly defined in an increasing range of Indigenous health policy documents. This paper will begin with a summary of the link between mental and physical health supported by key references. It will then briefly reflect on the current organisation of mental and physical health services in remote Indigenous settings of Far North Queensland and the Northern Territory, identifying some of the major disadvantages being experienced. The paper will close with a description of the approach and some early outcomes to address these issues by the Indigenous Stream of the AIMhi project (Australian Integrated Mental Health Initiative), which is a major National Health & Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) Strategic Partnership initiative that began implementing a framework of research activities in mid-2003.

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