Friday, October 23, 2015

3:30 PM - 5:30 PM

L2

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Details

This session (panel/discussion) lead by Dr Molly Shorthouse, Dr Peter Chilcott, Dr Mike Beckoff and Assoc Prof Dennis Pashen will explore the issues in service delivery of rural and remote mental health, and pathways forward to training in rural generalist mental health. Every year 1 in 5 Australians will experience a mental health disorder and up to one third of rural and remote residents report psychological distress. Indigenous Australians suffer even higher rates of psychological distress and suicide, the majority of whom live in remote and very remote locations. Yet there are few specialist mental health service providers (Psychiatrists and Psychologists) in remote areas and the General Practitioner is most often the key provider. Innovation and workforce redesign are required to ensure equitable access to mental health services in rural and remote areas. One approach is the increased training pathways for Rural Generalists wishing to specialise in Mental Health and this could be facilitated by further collaboration between ACRRM, RACGP, RANZCP and the APS. (Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine; Royal Australian College of General Practitioners; Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists; Australian Psychological Society). This session will describe the establishment of a rural generalist Mental Health Clinic in remote Arnhem Land from the perspective of an ACRRM Registrar and to evaluate and reflect on the value of supporting Advanced Skills Training (AST) in Mental Health for rural generalists with the assistance of the panel presenters and audience discussion