Program aim

To coordinate and promote rural mental health research, through collaborative research across the participating centres and the promotion of mental health research capacity in rural areas.

A strong basis for the research program

This research program is led by Professor Brian Kelly, who is director of the NSW Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health at Orange in Central West region of the state (CRRMH). Other members of the Research Team have strong track records in public health research in rural Australia. The program has established strong partnerships with rural communities and organisations, and with rural health services. This program has demonstrated its strength in bringing together expertise across a wide range of relevant research fields that can be linked to the mental health research expertise to ensure broad-based rural mental health research - eg encompassing expertise in environmental health, Aboriginal health, agricultural health, health economics and epidemiology. This Collaboration program has won a 3-year NHMRC grant investigating the social, economic and environmental determinants of mental health and well being in a household survey across large areas of rural and remote NSW, to commence in early 2006.

Team

Professor John Beard - Northern Rivers UDRH Lismore (NRUDRH)

Assoc. Professor Jeffrey Fuller- NRUDRH

Professor David Lyle – Broken Hill Centre for Rural and Remote Health Research,

Assoc. Professor Lyne Fragar - Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety, Moree (ACAHS)

Dr Helen Stain- CRRMH

Kirrily Pollock – ACAHS

Victoria Clack- CRRMH

Fleur Hourihan- CRRMH

Phillip Lane- CRRMH

Rowena Micha- CRRMH

Gina Satore- CRRMH

 

NSW Health Priority areas to be addressed:

• Enabling individuals and communities to better manage their health
• Achieving improved workforce planning and education to address future health needs
• Addressing social, economic and environmental determinants of health through improve inter-sectoral collaboration
• Developing effective management systems to improve service quality and safety
• Developing effective models to promote Aboriginal health and community engagement
• designing health services around people’s needs
• engaging individuals and communities in planning and decisions
• Integrating health and other kinds of services at

Key stakeholders are engaged in setting and implementing the research agenda

Key stakeholder in this program include rural community organisations and health services, and other rural Universities. These are represented on the advisory committees informing the development and implementation of research priorities. NSW Health Centre for Mental Health and Area Health and Mental Health Services, the University of Newcastle are represented on the Management Committee of the CRRMH and have direct involvement in reviewing the research agenda of the CRRMH.

In the next 3-5 years

• Developing a network of mental health researchers across rural NSW, through the participating Centres and Area Health Services - eg as in the NHMRC funded large scale epidemiologic research being conducted by the Collaboration.
• Development of research scholarship opportunities for rural health professionals, linked to the major research programs of the mental health program
• Promoting a network of research training opportunities across the collaboration through joint supervision of research higher degree students in key projects
• Developing capacity in Aboriginal mental health research through links with key Aboriginal health organisations, contribution to training of Aboriginal Mental Health Workers and developing positions for Aboriginal researchers
• Contributing to the health workforce research program
• Continue to strengthen the mental health service evaluation research. The links with the Centre for Mental Health provide the opportunity to shape and inform policy regarding rural mental health, already evident in the work conducted with the Rural Emergency and Critical Care Plan, and the Rural Support Line.