Health practitioners from Dubbo are in talks with researchers to participate in a world-first study to improve physical outcomes for people with mental health issues in the regions.
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The study, beginning in November by Charles Sturt University and others, will engage people from the community with lived experience of mental health, to assist people with mental health in seeking health support.
Professor in Management, Russell Roberts from the CSU School of Business, said people with a mental illness are far more likely to die of chronic physical health conditions - like heart disease, lung disease and cancer - than they are of suicide, and they're likely to die 10 or 20 years earlier than the rest of the population.
"It's mostly because they're not screened as much as the general population and when they are screened, they're not treated and they're not hospitalised as much. Consequently, a lot of conditions go undiagnosed and untreated," Professor Roberts told the Daily Liberal.
![Professor in Management, Russell Roberts from the CSU School of Business, with Emma McBride, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. Picture supplied Professor in Management, Russell Roberts from the CSU School of Business, with Emma McBride, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/QQwHRnUv9qYdvjDNLdqaup/e56dd14a-9bf7-4f26-a2c8-ac4f706811e0.png/r0_0_1920_1276_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The project will help people with mental health navigate the health system because "it's even tougher for people with mental illness to navigate the health system to get the quality services that they need and deserve".
"What we're looking to do is train people from the community who have the lived experience of mental illness, so they can empathise a bit and understand some of the challenges of organising health appointments," Professor Roberts said.
"[The people with lived experience] will help them to navigate the health system so they can get equal access to quality health care as the rest of the population."
![Professor in Management, Russell Roberts from the CSU School of Business, also National Director of Equally Well Australia, and the Manna Institute. Picture supplied Professor in Management, Russell Roberts from the CSU School of Business, also National Director of Equally Well Australia, and the Manna Institute. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/QQwHRnUv9qYdvjDNLdqaup/0820fd7e-dc1d-4f2a-a377-30f9cd5e179b.jpg/r0_0_6136_4091_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
CSU researchers have received a grant of $960,000 from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for the study.
It is the first international study using lived experience peers to help people with mental illness to navigate and access physical health services.
The research by the project team of 25 researchers from nine universities will be co-designed and led by people with lived experience as consumers of mental health services and their carers from rural communities.
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Professor Roberts, who is also the National Director of Equally Well Australia, and the Manna Institute, will lead the research. He said the project would develop "a new model of care" that aims to improve service delivery, and train peer workers to "build a new workforce that improves capacity to deliver mental and physical health services in rural areas into the future".
"As an added bonus, this initiative will support and take some pressure off our already stretched mental health workforce in rural communities," Professor Roberts said.
He said a number of non-government organisations in the health space in Dubbo had contacted the research team to be included in the pilot. Practitioners and people with lived experience will be appointed soon.
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; Men's Referral Service 1300 776 491; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; beyondblue 1300 224 636; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732; National Elder Abuse 1800 ELDERHelp (1800 353 374)
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