The Australian Government’s national Head to Health website is a trusted resource for Australians seeking guidance and support for their mental health and wellbeing goals. The recent update to the national Head to Health website has been making waves, particularly with its enhanced features tailored to support health professionals. Let’s dive into the key features of the updated national website and how it’s poised to become an indispensable tool for health professionals.

The refreshed digital Head to Health experience features a major update to the national website with a new look and feel, improved service navigation and expanded program and service options. Help seekers accessing the website are met with options to connect with mental health information, programs and services through an online quiz, the Head to Health Phone Service for mental health advice and support, or help accessing local mental health services and support that are right for them, including a Head to Health mental health centre or Pop-Up clinic. Alongside this, the new website houses a dedicated hub for health professionals.

Head to Health aims to make it easier for GPs and other health professionals to support the mental health of the people they look after. To do this, the website features tools and information to make the transition to blended care more seamless. Rather than accessing information through the Head to Health home page, health professionals can access the dedicated tab ‘For Health Professionals’.

The national Head to Health website introduced three new information pages tailored to health professionals;

Working alongside Head to Health services

There are complimentary Head to Health services including the national Head to Health Phone Service, Head to Health mental health centres and Pop-Up clinics. This information page details how health professionals can work alongside and integrate Head to Health services into practice.

Skilling up for health professionals

This page provides a list of opportunities for health professionals to further develop their skills in mental health, whatever your professional background. Information includes services that offer modules and e-learning courses to help upskill GPs and mental health professionals.

Understanding blended care

This information page discusses blended care – the integration of online and face-to-face care. It focuses on the benefits of blended care, the evidence behind it, and how it can be used.

One of the most innovative features of the revamped website is the streamlined service finder for health professionals. The quick and easy service finder allows clinicians to find and send trusted mental health resources and services to their patients or clients. The service finder currently hosts over 500 services, the vast majority of which have no cost to the user.

Clinicians can:

• search by diagnosis, issue, or disorder
• refine the search by age, cohort, level of distress, or level of care (IAR)
• view details about service offering, costs, and clinical evidence
• select as many services as they think are needed, and
• review their selection, add notes, and share them with their patient.

Clinicians can provide their patients with a link (via printout with a QR code) to a page with all the selected services. Help seekers can access this information at home, or whenever it suits them, and provide feedback on the services they’ve tried.

Clinicians can also bookmark their favourite resources to refer to in the future. This tool simplifies the process of finding suitable services, making it easier for health professionals to connect their patients with the right resources.

Should you wish to provide any feedback on the Head to Health website, you can take a short survey here.

Check out the new offerings for health professionals below.