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Aim: The provision and implementation of early intervention for psychosis services (early intervention services [EIS]) has received increasing attention over recent years. Maximizing engagement with EIS is of clinical and economic importance, and exploring the experiences of those who access EIS is vital. Although research has been conducted exploring the experiences of engaging with EIS from both a service user and carer/family member point of view, these data have not been systematically collated to generate new understanding. The primary aim of this study is to review, critically appraise and synthesize qualitative findings relating to the experiences of service users and/or carers and family members engaging with EIS. Methods: Four databases were systematically searched. Studies were analysed using an inductive thematic analysis approach, within a critical realist epistemological framework. Studies were critically appraised using the critical appraisal skills programme tool. Results: Fourteen papers were identified for inclusion. Three main themes were identified: the importance of a personal relationship with an EIS staff member, the impact of this relationship and consideration of life after EIS. The importance of a strong relationship with EIS staff was the most prominent theme throughout the papers reviewed. Conclusions: The quality of the therapeutic relationship with at least one EIS staff member was the single most important factor in determining whether the experience of accessing EIS was a positive or negative one. The majority of the studies reviewed were conducted in the United Kingdom or Australia. Therefore, more research across countries is needed to understand transferability of findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue Addressed: Dental caries is highly prevalent in very young Australian and New Zealand children. Health professionals other than registered dental professionals can help prevent early childhood caries, promoting oral health to assist families establish preventative oral health habits at a child's early age. This review identifies oral health promotion (OHP) delivered by nondental health professionals in Australia and New Zealand involving very young children. Methods: Databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Emcare, Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, Google Scholar, TROVE) and digital libraries were searched between 2001 and 2021 for eligible studies and grey literature. Studies with a focus on preventative oral health strategies in a primary health care context were included. Results: The review identified 76 studies. Seven met the inclusion criteria, and were conducted in Australia across metropolitan, rural, and remote settings. Studies that successfully engaged nondental health professionals to promote oral health to families reported a positive change in oral health practices among very young children. Delivering OHP during a child's early life stage positively influenced their oral health outcomes. Conclusions: Integration of dental and primary health care increased access to oral health care and advanced positive oral health outcomes for children. With adequate training, resources, and support mechanisms, nondental health professionals can deliver oral health strategies that facilitate behaviour change in parents to improve children's oral health. So What? Health promotion generates enabling conditions that support and empower families to improve and maintain their oral health. Nondental health professionals can play a crucial role promoting oral health for very young children and improving equitable access to preventative oral health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Two integrated headspace Early Intervention Teams (hEITs) were established in 2017 to bridge gaps between headspace, the national primary care youth mental health programme in Australia, and the state funded secondary and tertiary mental health services. This study aims to describe functioning and outcomes of patients referred to hEIT over a 6‐month period. Methods: A retrospective file audit was conducted for all patients accepted into the service over a 6‐month period in 2018. Measures of distress, functioning and client satisfaction were collected and analysed. Exemplar vignettes were created to construct hypothetical examples and illustrate research findings. Results: At admission, the three most common presentations were depression/anxiety, trauma and stress related, and psychotic disorders. During their time in the service, young people displayed a statistically significant improvement in functioning, reduction in self‐harm in those 18 years and under, and a trend to reduction in distress scores. hEIT delivered a broad range of services covering social, occupational, educational, medical and mental health care, and the service was experienced positively by the patient cohort. Conclusions: hEIT appears to meet the needs of young people requiring greater care than primary care services can deliver. The integrated, wrap‐around care coordination facilitates treatments across social, educational and health domains. Further exploration of young people who disengage from care, improved outcome data reporting and economic evaluation are indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The involvement of young people in the development, implementation and evaluation of youth mental health services, policy and research programs is essential to ensure they are appropriate and responsive to the needs of young people. Despite the increasingly central role that youth engagement and participation plays internationally, such activities are rarely described in detail. This article aims to provide a thorough description of the development and implementation of an organization‐wide, 3‐year Youth Engagement and Participation Strategy for Orygen, a national youth mental health organization in Australia. Methods: A descriptive account of the development and implementation of the Strategy, with detailed examples of programs and initiatives. Results: The Strategy was developed based on available evidence, focus groups with key stakeholders and best practice principles. The implementation of the Strategy resulted in a number of programs being delivered that involved a range of young people from across Australia. Despite being successful overall, a number of challenges were experienced. Ongoing considerations include ensuring diversity of partnerships, 'raising the bar' of youth participation and creating meaningful pathways. Conclusions: Youth participation and engagement within a youth mental health context is best seen as an evolving ambition that must remain flexible to the needs of all stakeholders. Despite some challenges and ongoing fine‐tuning, it is possible to successfully implement youth participation and engagement across all areas of youth mental health, including service design and delivery, research and translation, and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To examine socio-demographic factors associated with maternal help-seeking for child developmental concerns in a longitudinal birth cohort study. An understanding of these factors is critical to improving uptake of services to maximise early identification and intervention for developmental concerns.Methods: A birth cohort was recruited from the post-natal wards of two teaching hospitals and through community nurses in South Western Sydney, Australia, between November 2011 and April 2013. Of the 4047 mothers approached, 2025 consented to participate (response rate = 50%). Socio-demographic and service use information was collected after the child's birth and when the child was 18 months of age. Sources of help were divided into three categories (formal health services, other formal services and informal supports) and compound variables were created by summing the number of different sources identified by mothers.Results: Significantly more sources of help were intended to be used and/or actually accessed by mothers born in Australia, whose primary language was English, with higher levels of education and annual household income, and among mothers of first-born children.Conclusions: Developmental concerns are known to increase with increased psychosocial adversity. Our findings of reduced intent to access and use of services by socio-economically disadvantaged families and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds suggests that an inverse care effect is in operation whereby those children with the greatest health needs may have the least access to services. Possible explanations for this, and recommendations for improving service accessibility for these populations through targeted and culturally appropriate services, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the applicability of relationship-based approaches in early childhood intervention under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Topics discussed include need of trans disciplinary, family centred, and key worker approaches for evidence-based practices; philosophical shift in pediatric occupational therapy practice; and importance of parent–child relationship.

Background Playgroups are a relatively unique form of family support programme that is common in Australia which has high community acceptance and significant government investment. However, limited evidence exists regarding the effectiveness of playgroups to achieve better outcomes for children and their parents. This study describes patterns of playgroup participation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families with young children and examines the extent to which participation from birth to three years is associated with subsequent child, parent and community outcomes. Methods This study uses three years of longitudinal data for 622 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were participants in the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC). Longitudinal associations between playgroup attendance when children were age 2 and 3 years and outcome measures for child vocabulary, motor skills, behaviour problems, prosocial development, parent home learning engagement, resilience, advice-seeking and health service use, and community trustworthiness were examined using path analysis. Results Rates of playgroup participation in this sample group were generally lower than for Australian children overall. Playgroup attendance when children were age 2 to 3 years was associated with higher parental engagement in home learning activities when children were aged 4 years which, in turn, was associated with stronger expressive vocabulary scores for children. Conclusion The findings from this study suggest that playgroup participation can enhance the home learning environments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Playgroups as a parent support programme hold strong potential to reach and engage families, particularly in areas of high geographic isolation, which can realize improved outcomes for children, parents and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In attempting to evaluate an intervention programme designed to improve English literacy outcomes in children in a remote indigenous community in Australia, the need for valid and culturally appropriate measures of the factors likely to impact on literacy development became apparent. One factor considered likely to be of importance was the precision of the children's phonological representations. Aims To develop a measure of phonological representations that was culturally relevant for Anindilyakwa children and to evaluate its reliability and concurrent validity against English measures that are known to be predictive of literacy outcomes. Methods & Procedures Starting from the Quality of Phonological Representations test (QPR), the authors developed an Anindilyakwa Quality of Phonological Representations test (AQPR) and examined its reliability and concurrent validity. Outcomes & Results The AQPR was found to have acceptable reliability and to correlate significantly with three well-established measures of phonological awareness and phonics in English. Conclusions The AQPR would thus seem an appropriate screening test for use by teachers to identify Anindilyakwa children in need of interventions to improve phonological representations before exposing them to an English literacy programme for which they may not yet be ready. The process involved in its development could be used by others working with indigenous students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue addressed: Although many Aboriginal Australians live in cities, minimal research has addressed community-based approaches to reduce alcohol problems in that setting. Methods: We conducted a pilot study of community-based education and brief intervention. Existing Aboriginal community-based groups in an urban region were offered interactive education sessions with Aboriginal facilitators. The session was based around a World Health Organization brief intervention, with posters as visual aids. Before education, participants completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and questions on potential barriers to treatment access. After the session, feedback on AUDIT score and oneon- one brief intervention were offered. Results: Over 12 months, eight sessions were conducted and 58 individuals participated. The groups reached individuals with potential need for assistance: although 29.8% of the 47 questionnaire respondents were non-drinkers, 44.7% had an AUDIT score (of 8+) suggesting an alcohol problem, and 51.5% of drinkers reported 5+ (non-standardised) drinks per occasion. Participants showed considerable interest in the resources and most actively participated. All appeared unaware of recommended drinking limits, or of newer treatment options such as home detoxification or relapse prevention medicines. Participants were interested to receive their AUDIT score but not one-on-one intervention. Potential treatment access barriers were described. Conclusions: Interactive group education and feedback of AUDIT score is labour intensive but promoted thoughtful discussion on drinking. Methods to empower and support urban Aboriginal communities to tackle drinking problems need further exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health is the number one health issue affecting young people in Australia today, yet only one in four of these young people receive professional help. Approximately 14% of 12- to 17-year-olds and 27% of 18- to 25-year-olds experience mental health problems each year. However, many do not have ready access to treatment or are reluctant to seek that help. These issues might be exacerbated in the rural and remote regions of Australia where sociocultural barriers such as stigma, lack of anonymity and logistic difficulties including cost and availability of transport can hinder young people accessing mental health services. headspace : the National Youth Mental Health Foundation has been funded to address these issues. headspace will provide funding for the establishment of communities of youth services across Australia, provide national and local community awareness campaigns and plans, establish a centre of excellence that will identify and disseminate evidence-based practice in addressing youth mental health issues, and translate findings into education and training programs that are targeted at service providers to work with youth mental health. The communities of youth services will build the capacity of local communities to identify early, and provide effective responses to, young people aged 12–25 years with mental health and related substance use disorders. Specific approaches in rural, regional and remote areas will be developed as well as specific programs to involve young Indigenous people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]