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Background: Incarcerated trans women experience significant victimization, mistreatment, barriers to gender-affirming care, and human rights violations, conferring high risk for trauma, psychological distress, self-harm, and suicide. Across the globe, most carceral settings are segregated by sex assigned at birth and governed by housing policies that restrict gender expression—elevating ‘safety and security’ above the housing preferences of incarcerated people. Aim/methods: Drawing upon the lived experiences of 24 formerly incarcerated trans women in Australia and the United States and employing Elizabeth Freeman’s notion of chrononormativity, Rae Rosenberg’s concept of heteronormative time, and Kadji Amin’s use of queer temporality, this paper explores trans women’s carceral housing preferences and contextual experiences, including how housing preferences challenge governing chrononormative and reformist carceral housing systems. Findings: Participants freely discussed their perspectives regarding housing options which through thematic analysis generated four options for housing: 1) men’s carceral settings; 2) women’s carceral settings; 3) trans- and gay-specific housing blocks; and 4) being housed in protective custody or other settings. There appeared to be a relationship between the number of times the person had been incarcerated, the duration of their incarceration, and where they preferred to be housed. Conclusions: This analysis contributes to richer understandings regarding trans women’s experiences while incarcerated. This paper also informs the complexities and nuances surrounding housing preferences from the perspectives of trans women themselves and considers possible opportunities to enhance human rights, health and wellbeing when engaging in transformative approaches to incarceration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the development and implementation of a peer-support program Always There in a large public mental health service in Queensland, Australia. The program is modelled on Scott's three tier model of peer support, with trained responders providing emotional support to staff following a traumatic adverse event, or when experiencing acute or cumulative stress. Support is provided in complete confidentiality. Main lessons learned in the 2 years since the launch of the program are shared in this paper, outlining successes such as improvements in staff's perception of organisational culture, and challenges related to embedding the program to "business as usual". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The insights of people who have experienced mental health issues are at the core of recovery frameworks. The inclusion of peer support workers in clinical care teams is crucial to a recovery-supportive focus. Peer support workers facilitate egalitarian spaces for non-peer staff and consumers to frankly discuss the lived experience of mental illness. This study was part of a larger evaluation study which aimed to explore the implementation of a newly formed community-based mental health team in South-East Queensland, Australia. The paper reports the role of peer support workers and answers two research questions: "How is peer support work constructed in an interprofessional clinical care team?" and (2) "How do interprofessional mental health clinical care teams respond to the inclusion of peer support workers as team members?" Three themes were identified: peer support worker' ability to navigate a legitimate place within care teams, their value to the team once they established legitimacy and their ability to traverse the care landscape. Ultimately, successful integration in interprofessional teams was dependent upon the ability of clinical staff to focus on unique strengths that peer support workers bring, in addition to lived experience with mental illness as a carer or consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Through an account of prevailing experiences of art and mental illness, this paper aims to raise awareness, open dialogue and create agency about art created by people with experience of mental illness.Methods:This paper draws on personal narrative and inquiry by an artist with mental illness and data collected as part of a larger participatory action research project that investigated understandings of identity, art and mental illness.Result:An inquiry through art raised awareness and attentiveness to the importance of choice in identity construction and exposed frequent dichotomies in art and mental illness that were negotiated to eschew prescribed social stratification. As an artist, the first author challenged values present in one idea and absent in the other, and the options and concessions available to authorise her own dialogue and agency of being an artist.Conclusion:Constructing an identity is an important part of being human, the labels that we choose or are chosen for us attribute to our identity. Reflections and recommendations are offered to consider expanded ways of thinking about art and mental illness and the functions that art play in identity construction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is an ongoing global shortage of mental health nurses. Within Australia, the principal strategy of offering a postgraduate education programme with various incentives to encourage nurses back to study has not been successful. This has led to the consideration of radical alternatives, including the return to pre-registration specialisation in mental health. The successful introduction of this strategy would require the full support of industry partners. To date, the voice of industry has not been heard in relation to this issue. The aim of this paper is to present the views of an Australian sample of mental health nursing directors regarding the resources and other factors required, should undergraduate specialist programmes in mental health be developed, to ensure they are relevant and likely to be successful. A qualitative exploratory research project was undertaken to explore the perspectives and opinions of industry partners. In-depth interviews were conducted with nursing directors ( n = 12) in Queensland Australia. Five main themes were identified: relationships with universities; clinical placement preparation and support; workplace culture; facilitators and preceptors; and practical student learning. Genuine collaboration between the two organisations was considered crucial for delivering a quality programme and providing the required support for students. Transformative leadership could inform this collaboration by promoting acknowledgement of and respect for differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]