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Globally, tertiary education has been greatly affected by the Covid-19 crisis. In this essay we explore the impact of the pandemic on this educational sector in an Australian setting; specifically, we discuss how the Research School of Population Health at the Australian National University adjusted and adapted to the changing circumstances arising from the pandemic. In this respect, two adjustments (both described in detail in the text) in the way mental health education was delivered at the School were proposed to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 and enhance the university's capacity to provide quality public health education to students. Thus, this essay shows that it is possible to design educational interventions that surmount the challenges posed by the pandemic. In addition, educators may use the examples cited in this paper to guide them to respond appropriately to the challenges that have arisen in terms of health education due to Covid-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Primary mental health care services play an important role in prevention and early intervention efforts to reduce the prevalence and impact of mental health problems amongst young people. This paper aimed to (1) investigate whether mental health services commissioned by Australia's 31 Primary Health Networks provided accessible care and increasingly reached children and youth across Australia, and (2) identify the challenges of, and facilitating factors to, implementing services for youth with, or at risk of, severe mental illness (i.e., youth enhanced services) in 10 PHNs which acted as mental health reform leaders (i.e., Lead Sites). Methods: We used mixed methods, sourcing data from: a national minimum data set that captured information on consumers and the services they received via all 31 PHNs from 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2017; consultations with Lead Site staff and their regional stakeholders; and observational data from two Lead Site meetings. Results: Many children and youth receiving services were male and up to 10% were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people. The majority of young people came from areas of greater disadvantage. For most children and youth receiving services their diagnosis was unknown, or they did not have a formal diagnosis. Both child and youth service uptake showed a modest increase over time. Six key themes emerged around the implementation of youth enhanced services: service access and gaps, workforce and expertise, funding and guidance, integrated and flexible service models, service promotion, and data collection, access and sharing. Conclusions: Early findings suggest that PHN-commissioned services provide accessible care and increasingly reach children and youth. Learnings from stakeholders indicate that innovative and flexible service models in response to local youth mental health needs may be a key to success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research has shown that discrimination is harmful to health, but there is relatively little known about discrimination experienced by people from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds in resettlement countries and associated health effects. This qualitative-focused mixed methods paper reports on discrimination experienced by refugees and asylum seekers, responses to discrimination, and impacts on health.Methods: As part of a broader study of housing, social inclusion and health, surveys were completed by 423 adult refugees and asylum seekers living in South Australia who had been in Australia for up to 7 years. The survey included questions on discrimination based on skin colour, ethnicity and religion, as well as questions on hope, trust, belonging, sense of control and health (including the SF-8). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 65 survey participants, purposively sampled by visa status, continent and gender, further exploring experiences of discrimination. These and survey open-ended responses were analysed thematically.Results: Twenty-two percent of survey participants reported experiences of discrimination since arriving in Australia (14% in the last year), and 90% of these felt that discrimination had harmed their health. Key settings of discrimination were public transport, within the neighbourhood, and in relation to employment. Those who reported discrimination had significantly worse mental health (p < .000) but not physical health. Discrimination was also associated with less sense of belonging (p = .001), lower levels of trust (p = .038), reduced sense of control (p = .012) and less hope (p = .006). Incidents described in interviews and the open-ended survey responses included incivility, physical assault, and denial of services, experienced across intersecting characteristics of race/ethnicity, religion, gender and visa status. Responses to discrimination spanned affective, cognitive and behavioural dimensions, ranging across types of experience, participant characteristics and context, with most individuals reporting multiple response types. While some of the responses were reported by participants as protective of health, participants' reflections indicated significant negative impacts on mental health in particular.Conclusion: Discrimination featured in the resettlement experiences of a significant number of refugees and asylum seekers, with participants reporting clear negative impacts on mental health. Addressing discrimination is a key resettlement and health issue requiring urgent action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years there has been an increase in the use of population-based linked data. However, there is little literature that describes the method of linked data preparation. This paper describes the method for merging data, calculating the statistical variable (SV), recoding psychiatric diagnoses and summarizing hospital admissions for a perinatal psychiatric study. Methods: The data preparation techniques described in this paper are based on linked birth data from the New South Wales (NSW) Midwives Data Collection (MDC), the Register of Congenital Conditions (RCC), the Admitted Patient Data Collection (APDC) and the Pharmaceutical Drugs of Addiction System (PHDAS). Results: The master dataset is the meaningfully linked data which include all or major study data collections. The master dataset can be used to improve the data quality, calculate the SV and can be tailored for different analyses. To identify hospital admissions in the periods before pregnancy, during pregnancy and after birth, a statistical variable of time interval (SVTI) needs to be calculated. The methods and SPSS syntax for building a master dataset, calculating the SVTI, recoding the principal diagnoses of mental illness and summarizing hospital admissions are described. Conclusion: Linked data preparation, including building the master dataset and calculating the SV, can improve data quality and enhance data function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]