Improving mental health in rural Australia
Friday, 28 September 2007
The School’s Professor Harvey Whiteford has secured an ARC grant of $441,911 over four years to research mental health interventions in the more remote regions of Australia. Rural and remote Australians have specific problems in accessing mental health services. WORC-rural is a mental health screening and early intervention randomised controlled trial aimed at improving the mental health and well-being of employees in rural and remote areas.
The primary aims are to:
(1) evaluate telephone CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) as a mental health service delivery model for rural and remote Australians.
(2) estimate the return-on-investment (ROI) from an employers and the societal perspective in early detection and treatment of common mental disorders.
It is expected that telephone CBT will be an effective intervention with a positive ROI for employers. The results will inform corporate and government policy.
Collaborating/Partner Organisations
Queensland Police Service
National Australia Bank
Rio Tinto trading as Technological Resources Pty Ltd
Department of Human Services, Victorian Government
Queensland Department of Education, the Arts and Training
Department of Child Safety, Queensland Government
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ)
BP Australia Pty Ltd
For further details please contact Professor Harvey Whiteford
School of Population Health www.sph.uq.edu.au/