Sunshine Coast Mental Health Summit

A Catalyst for Action

24 & 25 June, 2010
Sunshine Coast University

Aims and Outcomes

The Mental Health Summit will provide a catalyst for the development of a regional strategy to reduce the stigma of mental illness in the community, address the needs for child and youth mental health programs in a variety of settings, and build capacity within the health profession and the education sector in the areas of prevention, early intervention and treatment of people with a mental illness.

Final Summit Statement (152 KB)

The Summit will:

• Issue a statement at its conclusion calling on government and community to work together to address the mental health and wellbeing needs of younger Australians
• Provide a roadmap for developing more integrated and effective mental health services on a regional basis
• Engage local, regional and national leaders in an action learning process.

Key Elements

The Summit will be held on the 24th and 25th June 2010 and will consist of five key elements:

1. A public evening forum designed to alert members of the general public to the issues surrounding youth mental health including:

• Prevalence and nature of mental illness in the community – particularly among people under 25 years of age
• Early intervention strategies
• The effect of substance abuse including alcohol, marijuana and meth-amphetamines, either on the development of psychosis or as a result of psychosis
• Youth suicide and self-harm
• Lived experiences
• (For families) Ways to identify and manage the onset of early psychosis
• What services are available to help locally and nationally
• Reducing the stigma of mental health to encourage young people and their parents to seek help
• Management within the community of young people with a mental health or substance abuse problem.

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2. Keynote plenary sessions for health professionals, community service providers and educators on youth mental health and community and school mental health promotion.

• Community action on mental health
• Early intervention strategies
• Youth suicide and self-harm prevention
• Neurobiological interventions
• Using new media for prevention and early intervention
• Mental health promotion

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3. A series of workshops and master classes for health professionals, health and community service administrators, consumers and carers designed to provide them with professional development aimed at:

• For health professionals - raising their clinical skills in the management of young people with a mental illness and co-morbidity.
• For health and community service administrators – developing service linkages and integrated systems including consumer and carer involvement in the design, management and evaluation/monitoring of services
• For Consumers and Carers – achieving results through better advocacy and the principles of co-design applied to mental health services.
• For Consumers and Carers – recovery – adopting ‘best practice’ from Scotland and elsewhere
• For consumer, carers and community service organisations – using art, film and music as therapy.

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4. Workshops and master classes for educationalists aimed at developing strategies for whole school communities, teachers, school-based nurses and school chaplains at primary, secondary and post-secondary institutions to:

• Identify the early signs of potential mental illness
• Management of young people with a diagnosed mental illness
• Distinguishing between mental illness and poor behaviour
• The management of young people with suicidal tendencies
• Coping with grief and loss within an educational facility
• Preventative strategies and available programs

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5. An Expo of local, regional and national services for both professionals and the general public.

Whilst some individuals may wish to participate in all these elements, they are designed to reach different audiences in the community. Most importantly the Summit focuses on developing local and regional solutions using the national and international perspectives offered by the keynote and workshop speakers and master class facilitators.