Keeping military in mind: The Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists’ Military and Veterans’ Mental Health Network

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-278
Author(s):  
Duncan Wallace ◽  
Carla Meurk ◽  
Diana McKay ◽  
Andrew Khoo ◽  
Jon Lane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Health Network ◽  
Emergency Services Personnel ◽  
Active Interest ◽  
Zealand College ◽  
High Level ◽  
Survey Responses

Objective: The objective of this study is to introduce The Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) Military and Veterans’ Mental Health Network (The Network) and profile its inaugural members. Methods: We implemented an online survey of demographic, professional and practice characteristics of network members; self-rated knowledge of military and veterans’ mental health; reasons for joining The Network; and suggestions as to how The Network could best support members’ needs. Quantitative survey responses were analysed descriptively. Qualitative responses were analysed thematically. Results: Thirty-two out of 60 network members returned the survey. The membership was predominately male and 50 years of age or older. One-half had completed their fellowship or specialty 20 or more years ago. A high level of self-rated knowledge with respect to the assessment and management of current and ex-serving military personnel was reported. Knowledge of the assessment and management of current and ex-serving emergency services personnel was lower. Conclusion: There are RANZCP members with an active interest, expertise and knowledge in the field of military, veterans’ and emergency services personnel mental health; this affirms the significant role the RANZCP can play in this area. There is a need to expand, diversify and ensure sustainability of the workforce.

scholarly journals The New Zealand podiatry profession – a workforce in crisis?

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Carroll ◽  
Hannah Jepson ◽  
Prue Molyneux ◽  
Angela Brenton-Rule
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Private Practice ◽  
Sports Medicine ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
New Graduates ◽  
The North ◽  
New Graduate ◽  
Survey Responses

Abstract Background This is the first study to explore workforce data from the Podiatrists Board of New Zealand. The study analysed data from an online survey which New Zealand podiatrists complete as part of their application for an Annual Practising Certificate. Methods Survey responses between 2015 and 2019 were analysed. Data was related to work setting, employment status, work hours, location, professional affiliations, and number of graduates entering practice. Survey data was downloaded by a second party who provide data security for the Podiatrists Board of New Zealand workforce data. All data supplied for analysis were deidentified and could not be re-linked to an individual practitioner. Results In 2019 there were 430 podiatrists who held an Annual Practising Certificate. Eighty percent of podiatrists who work in New Zealand are in private practice, with 8% employed in the public health sector. Podiatrist’s work is a mix of general podiatry, diabetes care and sports medicine. The majority are self-employed (40%) or business owners (19%). Approximately 40% work between 31 to 40 h per week and 46 to 50 weeks per year. The majority are female (67%) with most practising in the North Island (69%) and located in the Auckland region (33%). On average 76% of new graduates were issued an Annual Practising Certificate between 2015 and 2019. Conclusion The New Zealand podiatry profession is small and growing at a slow rate, consequently there is evidence of a workforce shortage. To maintain a per-capita ratio of podiatrists approximate to Australia and the United Kingdom an additional 578 podiatrists are required in the New Zealand workforce. There are not enough new graduate practitioners entering the workforce and once practising, the majority enter private practice in the face of limited public health employment opportunities.

Owning the brand of psychiatry

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S740-S740
Author(s):  
A. Peters
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Medical Training ◽  
The Public ◽  
Community Information ◽  
Zealand College ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
Promotion Campaigns

In Australia and New Zealand, conversations around mental health are playing out in the public space with increasing frequency. Mental health promotion campaigns and organizations are embraced by mainstream and other forms of media, and supported by government. Whilst public knowledge of mental illness is increasing, the profile of psychiatrists as leaders and medical experts in mental illness is a more difficult brand to sell. With a somewhat tarnished history behind us, the modern evidence-based practice of psychiatry is not always at the forefront of public impression. Furthermore, in Australia, more than half of the population (56%) is unaware that psychiatrists have undertaken medical training as a doctor. This presentation will outline Royal Australian and New Zealand college of psychiatrists (RANZCP) action to improve community information about psychiatry, psychiatrists and treatment experiences.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK: a secondary data analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jen Murphy ◽  
Mark Elliot
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
National Level ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
The Impact

Introduction: In March 2020 in response to the COVID pandemic the UK government declared a national lockdown where citizens were required to stay at home. The impact of this lockdown on levels of well-being has been a source of concern for citizens and mental health professionals.Objectives: We investigated the trajectory of well-being over the course of the ?first wave and sought to determine whether the change in well-being is distributed equally across the population. Speci?fically we investigated pre-existing medical conditions, social isolation, ?financial stress and deprivation as a predictor for well-being and whether there were community level characteristics which protect against poorer well-being.Methods: Using online survey responses from the COVID19 modules of Understanding society, we linked 8,379 English cases across ?five waves of data collection to location based deprivation statistics. We used ordinary least squares regression to estimate the association between deprivation, pre-existing conditions and socio-demographic factors and the change in well-being scores over time, as measured by the GHQ-12 questionnaire.Results: A decline in well-being was observed at the beginning of the fi?rst lock down period at the beginning of March 2020. This was matched with a corresponding recovery between April and July as restrictions were gradually lifted. There was no association between the decline and deprivation, nor between deprivation and recovery. The strongest predictor of well-being during the lockdown, was the baseline score, with the counterintuitive finding that for those will pre-existing poor well-being, the impact of pandemic restrictions on mental health were minimal, but for those who had previously felt well, the restrictions and the impact of the pandemic on well-being were much greater.Conclusion: These data show no evidence of a social gradient in well-being related to the pandemic. In fact, wellbeing was shown to be highly elastic in this period indicating a national level of resilience which cut across the usually observed health inequalities.

scholarly journals Individual differences in COVID-19 mitigation behaviors: The roles of age, gender, psychological state, and financial status

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0257658
Author(s):  
Joel Myerson ◽  
Michael J. Strube ◽  
Leonard Green ◽  
Sandra Hale
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Fear Appeals ◽  
Psychological State ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Self Protection

The present study examined individual characteristics potentially associated with changes in mitigation behaviors (social distancing and hygiene) recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Analysis of online survey responses from 361 adults, ages 20–78, with US IP addresses, identified significant correlates of adaptive behavioral changes, with implications for preventive strategies and mental health needs. The extent to which individuals changed their mitigation behaviors was unrelated to self-rated health or concern regarding the personal effects of COVID-19 but was related to concern regarding the effects of the pandemic on others. Thus, mitigation behaviors do not appear to be primarily motivated by self-protection. Importantly, adaptive changes in mitigation behaviors increased with age. However, these changes, particularly those related to the frequency of close proximity encounters, appear to be due to age-related decreases in anxiety and depression. Taken together, the present results argue against over-reliance on ‘fear appeals’ in public health messages as they may increase anxiety and depression. Instead, the present findings argue for more appeals to people’s concern for others to motivate mitigation as well as indicating an immediate need to address individual mental health concerns for the sake of society as a whole.

scholarly journals O3B.5 The mental health of police, firefighters and paramedics in the UK biobank: a comparison with the general working population

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. A24.3-A25
Author(s):  
Sharon Stevelink ◽  
Nicola Fear ◽  
Matthew Hotopf
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Random Sample ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Life Time ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Emergency Services Personnel ◽  
Working People ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Uk

It is our responsibility to protect and look after the health of members of the emergency services as this directly impacts on the country’s readiness to respond to these disasters and is a critical part of our duty of care towards this important group of workers. This study examined the mental health outcomes and associations with individual and job characteristics among emergency services personnel compared to a random sample of working people, thereby using data from the UK Biobank. This data source contains data on over half a million adults in the UK, who were at the time of recruitment between 40–69 years. Over 2 80 000 reported being in work. Current emergency services personnel were identified based on Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2000 codes. A random sample of age and sex matched people working in other occupations were selected from the UK Biobank for comparative purposes. The prevalence of the outcomes of interest, based on current and life time measures of depression, anxiety, alcohol misuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide and trauma will be presented. The findings will be discussed in the light of current policies and strategies and recommendations for further practice will be outlined.

Compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction and burnout during a pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 436-443
Author(s):  
L Beetham ◽  
KE Cameron ◽  
LC Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Compassion Fatigue ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Work Productivity ◽  
Compassion Satisfaction ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
Global Catastrophe

Background: Work-related mental health issues in New Zealand are increasing yearly and impact on how employees are able to cope with day-to-day pressures and work productivity. Work-related mental health issues are especially prevalent during times of great stress such as the coronavirus pandemic. Aim: In this study, the prevalence of compassion fatigue, burnout and compassion satisfaction were assessed using the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) scale and a range of demographic and descriptive questions. Methods: The ProQOL is a Likert-style survey for those in human- or animal care roles, such as veterinary nurses. It measures compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction, rating the scores as low, moderate, or high risk. The survey was hosted via an online survey website for 6 weeks. Results: The survey received 166 usable responses. The average scores indicated moderate risk for most respondents for compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction. Conclusion: This research indicates that New Zealand's veterinary nurses show similar levels of compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction to international results in veterinary nurses assessed prior to the coronavirus pandemic, indicating that New Zealand veterinary nurses coped remarkably well during the global catastrophe.

Australian paramedic students’ mental health literacy and attitudes towards mental health

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon C. King ◽  
Amanda L. Rebar ◽  
Paul Oliveri ◽  
Robert Stanton
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Mental Health Literacy ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Use Of Emergency Services

Purpose Australian paramedics regularly encounter patients experiencing mental illness. However, some paramedics hold negative attitudes towards the use of emergency services in providing care for these patients. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine the mental health literacy (MHL) of Australian paramedic students, and the training and experiential factors associated with MHL. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional online survey was delivered to paramedic students across Australia. A total of 94 paramedic students completed the survey examining MHL, mental health first aid (MHFA) intentions, confidence in providing help, personal and perceived stigma and willingness to interact with a person experiencing mental illness. Findings Participants generally had poor MHFA intentions in spite of good recognition of mental health disorders and good knowledge about mental health. Participants also demonstrated low stigmatising attitudes towards mental illness; however, they expressed a lack of willingness to interact with a person experiencing mental illness. Originality/value Our findings propose a combination of work-based experience and specific MHFA training may be beneficial to paramedic students to improve care for patients experiencing mental illness.

Psychiatry in Vietnam

1997 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Minas
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Scientific Meeting ◽  
Cultural Psychiatry ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Zealand College

In November 1996 a collaborative workshop organised by the Vietnam National Institute of Mental Health and the Section of Social and Cultural Psychiatry of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists was held in Hanoi. Approximately 45 participants from Australia and New Zealand and 90 psychiatrists and psychiatric trainees from throughout Vietnam attended the workshop. This was the first major psychiatric scientific meeting held in Vietnam and was a valuable opportunity for colleagues from the three countries to meet and get to know each other, and to discuss recent developments in mental health and opportunities for collaboration. The meeting was very successful. It was certainly a most enjoyable experience. A number of collaborative possibilities that were discussed are now being actively pursued.

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