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In this edition:

• Health professionals: Have you visited the new Head to Health website?
• Lifeline Australia and On the Line Australia Sign Heads of Agreement for a Voluntary Amalgamation
• eMHPrac Podcast – Season 3 Episode 4
• Live Webinars from BDI
• Have you joined BDI’s new Education and Resource Hub?
• WellMob – new blog post
• See the eMHPrac team at these upcoming conferences
• Read the latest dMH research articles
• This month’s featured service: MOST (Moderated Online Social Therapy)

The Head to Health website recently underwent a major update with a new look and feel, improved navigation, expanded service options, and new information pages for health professionals. Check out the offerings for health professionals below.

Lifeline Australia and On the Line Australia (OTLA) are investigating a voluntary amalgamation which could potentially increase the impact of crisis support, mental health, suicide prevention, and family violence prevention services for Australian help-seekers.

Season 3 Episode 4 – ‘Spotlight on WellMob: Connecting digital mental health to culturally responsive healthcare’

Guests: Angela Sheridan, Project Officer (eMHPrac), Rebecca Pevitt, Social Worker (NSW Health)

“Social and emotional wellbeing is more than mental health – community, country, culture and our kinship systems aren’t separate to self – we’re all intertwined and interconnected. It acknowledges that social, political and historical determinants can weaken or disrupt those connections. It’s model of care that isn’t just issue or system focussed – it’s a holistic concept that underpins our entire way of doing, knowing and being.” – Angela Sheridan

In this episode of Digital Mental Health Musings, Dr Tania McMahon talks to social worker Bec Pevitt and Project Officer Angela Sheridan from WellMob – an online platform that shares Indigenous knowledge and wisdom by bringing together a rich collection of culturally responsive digital mental healthcare tools and resources. They discuss Indigenous approaches to mental health, like the social and emotional wellbeing model of healthcare, how it’s different from mainstream models of care and how the culturally safe resources and tools that WellMob provides access to represent best-practice healthcare for Aboriginal people.

Watch or listen to the podcast episode here and catch up on past episodes here.

“Short Mental Health Interventions: Tips for Talking to Teens”

When: Online, 22 Aug 12:30 – 1pm, 22 Aug 6 – 6:30pm

The need for mental health care is growing faster than specialised support and services are, leaving a gap in patient care. This webinar series aims to provide GPs and other health professionals with skills to ‘fill the gap’ in providing mental health care to their patients using a range of brief interventions.

In this webinar Dr Nicola Holmes will join Dr Jan Orman to bring her experience and expertise as they look at a formal framework for assessing teens in clinical practice (HEADSS), with a special focus on what health professionals need to know when engaging a reluctant teen.

“Using Social and Emotional Wellbeing Tools with First Nations Peoples”

When: Online, 23 Nov 1pm and 8pm AEST

The WellMob website is a digital library with links to over 350 online resources to support the social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Using the example of an Indigenous client presenting with depression, the webinar will explain how the SEWB framework is relevant to clinical and community practice and show how to find and effectively use WellMob resources.

Black Dog Institute’s new custom-built platform provides health professionals with access to an extensive range of short online webinars, podcasts and CPD modules covering the latest developments and research in mental health, as well as the Community of Practice, an interdisciplinary community of peers and colleagues.

WellMob has developed new ‘Resource Sheets for Workers’ to make it easier to find digital, culturally appropriate, social and emotional wellbeing resources on the WellMob website.

These resource sheets provide shortcuts to the top resources on WellMob and simplify the at times overwhelming choice. Each resource sheet focuses on one wellbeing topic and provides an interactive PDF listing the top pick of WellMob resources for that specific topic, making it easier for time constrained workforce to find and use online resources in practice.

The Mental Health Services (TheMHS) Conference

15-18 August 2023, Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide, SA

Presentation and Trade exhibit

Bringing humanity and human rights into mental health.

See eMHPrac Director Heidi Sturk present and visit the eMHPrac team at their trade exhibit.

Workplace Mental Health Symposium

7-8 September 2023, RACV Royal Pines Resort, Gold Coast, QLD

Presentation and Trade exhibit

Learn ground-breaking strategies, save time and money, and how your team inspired by the experts at the Workplace Mental Health Symposium.

See eMHPrac Director Heidi Sturk present and visit the eMHPrac team at their trade exhibit.

Mental Health Nursing Conference

13-15 September 2023, Sofitel Melbourne on Collins, Melbourne, VIC

Presentation and Trade exhibit

Mental health nursing – unleash the potential.

See eMHPrac Director Heidi Sturk present and visit the eMHPrac team at their trade exhibit.

WONCA (World Organisation of Family Doctors)

26-29 October 2023, ICC Sydney, Sydney, NSW

Presentation and Trade exhibit

Recovery, reconnection and revival. A celebration of primary care.

See Dr Jan Orman from the eMHPrac team at Black Dog Institute and Dr Phoebe Holdenson-Kimura present the workshop: ‘Online therapy programs – can they help improve mental health care delivery in primary care?’

Integrating digital interventions with clinical practice in youth mental health services

Cross, S.P., Nicholas, J., Bell, I.H., Mangelsdorf, S., Valentine, L., Thompson, A., Gleeson, J.F., & Alvarez-Jimenez, M. (2023). Integrating digital interventions with clinical practice in youth mental health services. Australasian Psychiatry, 31 (3), 302-305. doi:10.1177/10398562231169365

Physical Versus Virtual Reality-Based Calm Rooms for Psychiatric Inpatients: Quasi-Randomized Trial

Ilioudi, M., Lindner, P., Ali, L., Wallström, S., Thunström, A., Ioannou, M., Anving, N., Johansson, V., Hamilton, W., Falk, Ö., & Steingrimsson, S. (2023). Physical Versus Virtual Reality-Based Calm Rooms for Psychiatric Inpatients: Quasi-Randomized Trial. JMIR, 25, e42365. DOI: 10.2196/42365

Randomized evaluation of an online single-session intervention for minority stress in LGBTQ+ adolescents

Shen, J., Rubin, A., Cohen, K., Hart, E.A., Sunj, J., McDanal, R., Roulston, C., Sotomayor, I., Fox, K.R., & Schleider, J.L. (2023). Randomized evaluation of an online single-session intervention for minority stress in LGBTQ+ adolescents. Internet Interventions, 33, 100633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2023.100633.

MOST (Moderated Online Social Therapy)

About MOST

MOST is a digital mental health service for young people aged 12 to 25. Developed by youth mental health experts at Orygen in collaboration with young people with liven experience of mental ill-health, MOST connects young people with personalised, proven, effective support whenever and wherever they need. It provides a safe, moderated online community offering access to self-directed therapeutic content, helpful tailored information, practical tools, and real people to talk to.

Who is MOST for?

MOST is available for young people aged 12 to 25. It is available by referral from participating headspace or specialist youth mental health services in Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT.

Is there a cost to use MOST?

There is no cost to use MOST.

How to access MOST

MOST requires referral from a participating headspace centre or other state health service. Access information on how to get involved with MOST at https://most.org.au/.