Medical-legal partnerships: the role of mental health providers and legal authorities in the development of a coordinated approach to supporting mental health clients\u27 legal needs in regional and rural settings

INTRODUCTION: Medical-legal partnerships (MLP) are a model in which medical and legal practitioners are co-located and work together to support the health and wellbeing of individuals by identifying and resolving legal issues that impact patients\u27 health and wellbeing. The aim of this article is to analyse the benefits of this model, which has proliferated in the USA, and its applicability in the context of rural and remote Australia. METHODS: This review was undertaken with three research questions in mind: What is an MLP? Is service provision for individuals with mental health concerns being adequately addressed by current service models particularly in the rural context? Are MLPs a service delivery channel that would benefit individuals experiencing mental health issues? RESULTS: The combined searches from all EBSCO Host databases resulted in 462 citations. This search aggregated academic journals, newspapers, book reviews, magazines and trade publications. After several reviews 38 papers were selected for the final review based on their relevance to this review question: How do MLPs support mental health providers and legal service providers in the development of a coordinated approach to supporting mental health clients\u27 legal needs in regional and rural Australia? CONCLUSIONS: There is considerable merit in pursuing the development of MLPs in rural and remote Australia particularly as individuals living in rural and remote areas have far fewer opportunities to access support services than those people living in regional and metropolitan locations. MLPS are important channels of service delivery to assist in early invention of legal problems that can exacerbate mental health problems

Is there an association between dryland salinity and Ross River Virus Disease in Southwestern Australia?

Land use change has the potential to cause severe ecosystem degradation and drive changes in disease transmission and emergence. Broadscale clearing of native vegetation for agriculture in southwestern Australia has resulted in severe ecosystem degradation, which has been compounded by the subsequent development of large areas of dryland salinity. The mosquito-borne disease, Ross River virus (RRV), has been noted as a potential adverse human health outcome in these salinity affected regions. The association between dryland salinity and RRV disease was therefore tested by undertaking a spatial analysis of disease notification records using standard and Bayesian techniques. To overcome inherent limitations with notification data, serological RRV antibody prevalence was also investigated. Neither method revealed a significant association with dryland salinity, however, the spatial scale imposed limited the sensitivity of both studies. Thus, further multidisciplinary studies are required to overcome these limitations and advance understanding of this ecosystem health issue, particularly using variables that can be investigated on a finer scale