Services

In rural and remote Australia, mental health issues are at least as prevalent as they are in metropolitan locations, although limited access to services results in many people not accessing prevention, primary health care and early intervention services.

Flinders University research is improving the ways in which communities interact with services in remote and rural areas.

Digital mental health

Currently, the detection, diagnosis and management of mental illness relies primarily on self-reports or observable changes in behaviour and functioning.

However, in a world where smartphones and connected wearable devices go hand-in-hand with large data-sets, emerging research suggests that better techniques to characterise and predict psychological problems may be possible.

Utilising novel smartphone-based applications and data-analytics applications, Flinders researchers are investigating the feasibility of real-time monitoring and early detection of symptoms of mental illness.In partnership with academics from Harvard and New York Upstate Medical University, SAHMRI, Country Health SA, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and other organisations, our focus is to leverage digital presence, a by-product of the technology- saturated world that permeates everyday living, to deliver personal health benefits.

Lead - Associate Professor Niranjan Bidargaddi
Associate Professor of Personal Health Informatics, College of Medicine and Public Health

Lead - Professor Tarun Bastiampillai
Clinical Academic, College of Medicine and Public Health

Mental health in an online environment

There is growing understanding that serious online problems may be indicative of a broader pattern of problem behaviours and/or underlying emotional issues for youth, and vice versa.

For example, young people engaging in bullying others online and being victimised online, experience wide ranging social and emotional problems.

Research at Flinders University is dedicated to making a difference to the health and wellbeing of young people’s lives by promoting adaptive online and digital behaviour.

It’s a disturbing statistic, but half of all mental health conditions in adulthood emerge by age 14, and three quarters by age 24. Research into youth mental health is a global priority.

There is ample evidence that young people involved in harmful bullying have experienced trauma in their own lives, display mental health difficulties and experience psychosocial maladjustment. However, early intervention into trauma events and/or psychotic disorders results in improved outcomes for a typical patient.

Flinders research into youth mental health is broad in scope, including research to improve our understanding of how fundamental changes in neurocognitive processing can lead to early psychotic symptoms.

Our researchers are also investigating the features of bullying (i.e. repetition, intended harm and power imbalance) and investigating the development of skills amongst social workers to facilitate positive family change as a way of protecting children from the effects of trauma.

Lead - Professor Sarah Wendt
Professor in Social Work, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work

Support from - Dr Grace Skrzypiec
Senior Lecturer, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work

Support from - Dr Oren Griffiths
Lecturer in Psychology, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work

How we deliver mental health care is critical to people who suffer mental illness, and can have a significant impact on whether a person will engage willingly with services into the future.

Research led by Professor Eimear Muir-Cochrane focuses on clinical service research involving investigations into the enablers and barriers to providing best practice. The nature of this work includes applied research into mental health care practices and the involvement of consumers of mental health.Our partners include London University, the National Mental Health Commission, Office of the Chief Psychiatrist and SA Health.

Lead - Professor Eimear Muir-Cochrane
Professor of Nursing, College of Nursing and Health Sciences