Compliance with the zero suicide initiative by mental health clinicians at a regional mental health service : development and testing of a clinical audit tool

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the compliance of mental health clinicians in applying the Zero Suicide (ZS) approach to their clinical practice in a rural and regional health community setting. Methods: A retrospective clinical audit of six mental health teams was undertaken at a single site. A clinical audit tool was developed and validated using a six-step approach. The data was extracted and analysed via descriptive and inferential statistics and compared to a specialised mental health team, experienced with the ZS approach. Results: A total of 334 clinical records were extracted for January, April, August, November 2019 and June 2020. The clinical audit and analysis confirmed that the mental health teams are not consistently using the assessments from their training and are therefore not implementing all of these elements into their practice. This could have implications for the risk formulation and treatment for people at risk of suicide. Conclusions: The use of a validated clinical audit tool can be beneficial to establish compliance with the mental health clinicians and to determine any areas requiring further improvement. Further education and reinforcement may be required to ensure consistency with incorporating the elements of ZS into everyday clinical practice. © 2022 by the authors

The effect of positively framed and negatively framed messages on televised smoking cessation advertisement success : a systematic review

Background: Smoking cessation campaigns aim to decrease the prevalence of smoking in the community. However, smoking cessation campaigns can be expensive to develop and implement, therefore is it essential that campaigns have high impact and broad reach to ensure the most efficient use of resources. Method: A systematic review was conducted in October 2020 to assess the efficacy of positively framed and negatively framed messages used in televised smoking cessation advertisements. The search was restricted to quantitative primary research published between 2010 and 2020, yielding 4640 results. Study selection was performed using the PRISMA method. Population was inclusive of all ages and smoking status. A total of 15 articles met the criteria for review. Results: Negative messages were found to increase the likelihood of a smoker intending to quit, attempting to quit, successfully quitting, or calling a quitline, while some studies found that positive messages increased confidence to quit and calls to quitline. Combination of negative and positive messages were found to complement one another and were more successful at influencing quit behaviour than using either message type alone. However, findings were not consistent across all studies. Conclusion: The results of this review may be used to inform the development of future smoking cessation advertisements to ensure content is relevant, effective, and cost-efficient. Further exploration of the efficacy of positive and negative messages on target populations would be valuable to advise the design of cessation campaigns. © 2023 College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University. This is an open access article under the CC BY license

Latrobe Regional Hospital : The Wellness Centre evaluation 2021-2022

CERC (formally CERG) partnered with the Latrobe Regional Health (LRH) to evaluate their Staff Wellness Centre, designed to provide wellbeing support for staff during and post the COVID-19 pandemic. The organisation had identified an impact to staff wellness during the pandemic, responding with the Centre to help staff access health promotion services, mental and physical wellbeing services. CERC assisted with evaluating the service, demonstrating the impact the service has had on the overall wellbeing of staff

Building healthy and resilient communities through service equity project evaluation : June 2022

Working in partnership with the Deddick Valley Isolated Community Group and in collaboration with the Errinundra to Snowy Community Recovery Committee, CERC (formally CERG) evaluated and validated existing data and new information in support of an appropriate health service model for the Errinundra to Snowy District of Far East Gippsland

Adolescents Building Connections (ABC) program evaluation 2022

CERC (formally CERG) has evaluated the Quantum Support Services ABC program that provids tools and strategies to help young people understand the impact of their behaviours and encourage positive growth and maintenance of healthy relationships

A scoping review of community-based adult suicide prevention initiatives in rural and regional australia

The need for continued research into suicide prevention strategies is undeniable, with high global statistics demonstrating the urgency of this public health issue. In Australia, approximately 3000 people end their lives each year, with those living in rural and regional areas identified as having a higher risk of dying by suicide. Due to decreased access and support services in these areas, community-based suicide prevention initiatives provide opportunities to educate and support local communities. A scoping review was conducted to explore the literature pertaining to such programs in rural and/or regional communities in Australia. This review follows the five-stage Arksey and O’Malley (2005) framework and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. Nine databases were searched, from which studies were considered eligible if suicide prevention programs were community-based and catered for adults (age

‘I Am Deadly’ project evaluation December 2022

CERC (formally CERG) evaluated the implementation of the ‘I Am Deadly’ project, which is a version of the ‘I Am Ready’ project targeting young Aboriginal students. The project aimed at encouraging up to 20 Aboriginal students to take up a trade and providing them with a pathway into a trade. It also aimed to encourage Aboriginal Students to continue their education to allow a greater choice for employment options post-secondary school

Cyan Moon crew preparation for the Sydney To Hobart Yacht Race March 2023

The Collaborative Evaluation & Research Centre (formally CERG) evaluated the crew’s experiences pre and post yacht events using a mixed methods approach. The Cyan yacht had a crew of 12 and competed in a number of events in the racing calendar leading up to the Sydney to Hobart race in January 2023. This was the first time that this boat and many of the crew competed in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race

Latrobe City Council Community Engagement Survey 2021 Analysis

As part of Latrobe City’s community engagement strategy, a survey was developed and distributed during May to June 2021, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data to capture feedback and suggestions on how Latrobe City could be a better place to live, work, visit and play. The survey also invited residents to share their thoughts on current and future challenges for the City. A total of 1552 responses to the survey were received of which 69 were blank, with 1453 making up the final data set. This report highlights the findings from the survey. The majority of the participants were female (65%, n=744), 33% were from Traralgon, 35% from smaller townships with the remaining 32% from Moe, Newborough, Morwell and Churchill. The participants ranged in age from 17-30 years (15%), 31-40 years (27%), 41-70 years (43%) 70+ years (10%). The majority of the participants were employed in healthcare, education and administrative roles with 89% stating that they live and work in Latrobe City. Friends are family was cited as the most common reason why participants believed that Latrobe City was a good place, with Location in Victoria, Affordability and Natural environment rounding off the top four responses. The most common reason people gave for Latrobe City being a good place to work was Distance from home (n=504) and similarly the most common reason participants gave for it being a good place to study was Close to home. Safety, Economy and Built environment were considered the things most important for Latrobe City Council to focus on this was evident in both the quantitative and qualitative responses. A thematic analysis process was used to analyse the content from the six open-ended questions in the survey. Six main themes emerged; Employment, Safety, Transport, Education, Sport and Entertainment and Hope for the future

Rainbow brick road report : a snapshot into LGBTQIA+ Lives in Gippsland

Gippsland Pride embarked on an ambitious undertaking to capture the lived experiences of the LGBTQIA+ community across Gippsland through a series of professional development workshops and a Gippsland wide survey. A total of 119 people registered to attend the professional development workshops and a total of 214 surveys were collected, this report represents the findings from this data collection. The purpose of this evidence-based report is to highlight the thoughts and experiences of members of the Gippsland LGBTQIA+ community to inform future strategic plans. The summary report and the expanded report are products of Gippsland Pride's engagement of CERG. The recommendations within and summaries provided have been collated, analysed, and produced by the CERG team