Mental healthcare pathways for urban Aboriginal children

Social and emotional wellbeing problems are the chief health issue experienced by young Australians. The small amount of information available suggests that Aboriginal young people experience even higher levels of mental health related harm.

Little is known about the pathways that Aboriginal children and adolescents with mental health concerns take when accessing specialized care and to what extent services are available, accessible and culturally appropriate. Further, although GPs are generally considered the gatekeepers to accessing specialist mental health services it is unclear the extent to which they feel confident and equipped to detect, assess and refer children for suspected mental health concerns, particularly in Aboriginal children.

This compilation of work sought to understand whether current guidelines and treatment pathways meet the needs of Aboriginal young people presenting with SEWB-related concerns and the extent to which GPs, nurses and Aboriginal Health Workers feel confident and equipped to deal with the mental health concerns they see in the children they deal with in their work at the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHSs). To gain this understanding two systematic reviews and a qualitative study were conducted.

Partnerships

This work was supported through grants to SEARCH from

  • the Australian Primary Care Research Institute
  • the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (grant numbers 358457, 512685, 1023998 and 1035378)
  • the NSW Ministry of Health
  • beyondblue, and
  • the Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund.

The CRE and SEARCH are conducted in partnership with the AH&MRC and four Aboriginal medical services across NSW,

  • Awabakal Limited
  • Riverina Medical and Dental Aboriginal Corporation
  • Sydney West Aboriginal Health Service, and
  • Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation