Depression in multicultural Australia: Policies, research and services

BACKGROUND: Depression is one of the leading causes of disability in Australia. The cultural and linguistic diversity of the Australian population poses a significant challenge to health policy development, service provision, professional education, and research. The purpose of this study is to explore the extent to which the fact of cultural and linguistic diversity has influenced the formulation of mental health policy, the conduct of mental health research and the development of mental health services for people with depression from ethnic minority communities. METHODS: The methods used for the different components of the study included surveys and document-based content and thematic analyses. RESULTS: Policy is comprehensive but its translation into programs is inadequate. Across Australia, there were few specific programs on depression in ethnic minority communities and they are confronted with a variety of implementation difficulties. The scope and scale of research on depression in Ethnic minority communities is extremely limited. CONCLUSION: A key problem is that the research that is necessary to provide evidence for policy and service delivery is lacking. If depression in Ethnic minority communities is to be addressed effectively the gaps between policy intentions and policy implementation, and between information needs for policies and practice and the actual research that is being done, have to be narrowed

Suicide among psychiatric patients : a case-control study

Objective: To examine patient- and treatment-based differences between psychiatric patients who do and do not die by suicide. Method: By linking databases of deaths and psychiatric service use in Victoria, we compared 597 cases who suicided over 5 years with individually matched controls. Results: Cases and controls could not be distinguished on the majority of patient- or treatment- based characteristics. The exceptions were that cases were more likely to be male, less likely to be outside the labour force, more likely to have recent contact with inpatient and community services, and more likely to have a registration as their last contact. Conclusions: Patients who suicide \u27look\u27 similar to those who do not, suggesting prevention approaches should ensure that all psychiatric patients receive optimal care, including appropriate detection, diagnosis, assessment and treatment of mental health problems, and careful, individualised assessment of suicide risk.<br /

Psychiatric nurses' attitudes toward consumer and carer participation in care: Part 2-Barriers to participation

Australian government policy has effectively mandated consumer and carer participation. However, the limited relevant literature suggests there are significant barriers to implementing participation in mental health services. Nurses have been identified as a professional group with an important role in creating the culture changes necessary for successful implementation, yet their views about consumer and carer participation have not been extensively explored. This article presents Part 2 of the findings of a qualitative study using focus group interviews with 30 nurses to explore opinions on the topic of consumer and carer participation. Data were analyzed using a content analysis approach, assisted by the software package NVivo. The themes explicated were systemic barriers and education, an essential ingredient. These findings emphasize the barriers and provide some sense of how educational techniques might assist with making some constructive inroads