A new Flinders University led project aims to help Australian teenagers who find themselves facing long wait times for mental health treatment.
The project, 'Left to their own devices', aims to help General Practitioners (GPs) to better support their adolescent patients while they await access to specialist mental health treatment and services.
Professor Bridianne O'Dea, Little Heroes Professor in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, at the Flinders University Institute for Mental Health and Wellbeing says that across Australia, many teens are waiting more than 100 days to first access mental health treatment after being referred by their GP.
"The wait time is a period of significant vulnerability if symptoms are acute, but treatment has not yet begun," says Professor O'Dea.
"Our focus on digital interventions means that we can create an accessible solution that doesn't introduce new service roadblocks or compound existing wait times."
The project will be led by Professor O'Dea and includes experts from the University of Sydney, Black Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, University of Melbourne, Orygen, and Northwestern University (US).
The team of researchers will test interactive digital approaches including smartphone apps and automated SMS chat to help GPs better support adolescents and their families.
The project will be delivered in partnership with lived experience, trusted mental health organisations (SANE Australia, Black Dog Institute, Grand Pacific Health) and primary care partners (Central and Eastern Sydney and South Eastern NSW Primary Health Networks).
"We will be working closely with GPs and lived experience to create a low-cost, digitally enhanced network of scalable interventions that can help support the psychological wellbeing and safety of adolescents while they await specialist mental health treatment and services," says Professor O'Dea.
"This funding provides us with an exciting opportunity to unite a multidisciplinary team that is highly motivated to improve the wellbeing of young Australians seeking professional help for their mental health."
Professor O'Dea's project 'Left to their own devices' has been awarded funding of $975,579 from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) 2023 Mental Health Research.
The MRFF aims to transform health and medical research and innovation to improve lives, build the economy and contribute to health system sustainability.
