Chris Gibbs, Barbara Murphy, Deepika Ratnaike, Kate Hoppe and Harry Lovelock
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and experience of the Mental Health Professionals’ Network (MHPN) in building and supporting a national interdisciplinary…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and experience of the Mental Health Professionals’ Network (MHPN) in building and supporting a national interdisciplinary professional development platform in community mental health to enhance practitioner response to the needs of consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
The key components of the MHPN model are described highlighting effective ways of engaging practitioners and supporting interdisciplinary practice. The MHPN has two key programs – Face-to-Face Interdisciplinary Practitioner Networks and an Online Professional Development Program.
Findings
The MHPN model has had significant uptake in communities across Australia and continues to grow. Practitioners report positive outcomes in engaging with other practitioners, improving their professional knowledge and having gained increased confidence in the provision of mental health care to patients.
Practical implications
The progress and learnings to date offer some useful insights that can be applied to other settings to support integrated care for patients with mental health problems through enhancing collaborative care among practitioners at the primary care level.
Originality/value
MHPN is a unique, national, successful platform delivering opportunities for interdisciplinary professional development in the primary mental health sector. The model is cost effective, practitioner driven, and transferable to other settings.
Details
Keywords
Barbara Murphy, Chris Gibbs, Kate Hoppe, Deepika Ratnaike and Harry Lovelock
The Mental Health Professionals Network (MHPN) was established to support and enhance collaborative care among health professionals working in primary mental healthcare. The MHPN…
Abstract
Purpose
The Mental Health Professionals Network (MHPN) was established to support and enhance collaborative care among health professionals working in primary mental healthcare. The MHPN has two primary arms: face-to-face network meetings and online webinars. The purpose of this paper is to investigate attitudinal and practice changes amongst health professionals after participation in MHPN’s network meetings.
Design/methodology/approach
In April 2016, an online survey was e-mailed to health professionals who had attended at least one network meeting during 2015. The survey asked about practice changes across seven key areas relating to increased awareness of and interaction with professionals from other disciplines. Interdisciplinary differences were investigated using the χ2 statistic (p<0.05).
Findings
A total of 1,375 health professionals participated in the survey. For each of the seven practice changes investigated, between 74 and 92 per cent of respondents had made the change. Those who attended more network meetings were significantly more likely to have made changes. General practitioners were significantly more likely than other professionals to have made changes.
Research limitations/implications
Attendance at MHPN network meetings has a positive impact on health professionals’ attitudes and practices towards a more collaborative approach to mental healthcare.
Originality/value
MHPN is a unique, national platform successfully delivering opportunities for interdisciplinary professional development in the primary mental health sector. The model is unique, cost-effective, practitioner driven and transferable to other settings.
Details
Keywords
Barbara Murphy, Kate Hoppe, Chris Gibbs, Deepika Ratnaike and Harry Lovelock
The Mental Health Professionals’ Network (MHPN) was established to enhance collaborative care among health professionals working in mental health care in Australia. The MHPN has…
Abstract
Purpose
The Mental Health Professionals’ Network (MHPN) was established to enhance collaborative care among health professionals working in mental health care in Australia. The MHPN has two primary arms: face-to-face network meetings and online webinars. The purpose of this paper is to investigate practice changes in health professionals who participated in one of MHPN’s live webinars.
Design/methodology/approach
Practice change was assessed by online survey with attendees from three MHPN webinars held in 2016. The survey link was e-mailed to webinar attendees three months after each webinar.
Findings
In total, 585 health professionals participated in the surveys. Four out of five respondents had made at least one practice change, particularly increased confidence in providing mental health care and increased discussions about other disciplines. General practitioners and psychologists were more likely than others to have made practice changes. Nine out of ten respondents rated the webinars as “very good” or “excellent.”
Research limitations/implications
MHPN’s webinar program positively impacts health professionals’ practice and represents an easily accessible and effective professional development opportunity for Australia’s mental health workforce.
Originality/value
The MHPN webinar program is unique in Australia. The MHPN provides opportunities for interdisciplinary professional development in the primary mental health sector. The model is highly cost effective and transferable to other settings and countries.
Details
Keywords
Kate Heward, Brendan Gough and Matthew Molineux
The diagnosis of a chronic progressive condition such as multiple sclerosis (MS) can impact on many aspects of daily life. Living with, and caring for, an individual with such a…
Abstract
The diagnosis of a chronic progressive condition such as multiple sclerosis (MS) can impact on many aspects of daily life. Living with, and caring for, an individual with such a condition is likely to have emotional and psychological consequences. We carried out semi‐structured interviews with nine partners and analysed the interview transcripts using grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), the phase presented in this article formed part of a larger overall study that explored the impact of living with MS for partners and a family. Our analysis in this phase highlights two core themes centred on identity issues faced by the participants: ‘playing detective’ in order to acquire information and manage the situation; and ‘reshaping identities’ in a shifting context, which reflected the participants' difficulties in reconfiguring important identities (at work and at home). Although previous research has addressed how carers cope, there is a dearth of qualitative literature relating to whether or not partners' identities are affected by taking a central role in caring, including how previous identities are maintained and new ones acquired.
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Paul Cisneros, Kate Macdonald and Cristhian Parrado
Global demand for agricultural commodities, including beef, soy, and palm oil, has driven tropical deforestation throughout the 21st century, threatening biodiversity and…
Abstract
Global demand for agricultural commodities, including beef, soy, and palm oil, has driven tropical deforestation throughout the 21st century, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem services while contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation in the tropics is a wicked problem because there is no consensus on its solution, conflicting moral and political considerations among stakeholders, and uncertainty about the potential effects of intended solutions. Faced with such complex policy challenges, jurisdictional approaches (JAs) are being increasingly embraced as potential means of increasing policy capacity to tackle deforestation and support the Sustainable Development Goals. JAs integrate tools such as public and private regulations, collaborative planning processes, and payments for ecosystem services to respond to the complexity that characterizes deforestation. In this chapter, we study PROAmazonia, an anti-deforestation JA implemented in Ecuador’s Amazon region since 2017.
Our study shows that enhancing policy capacities to manage wicked problems associated with deforestation requires confronting the inherent complexity of these problems and the wider socio-environmental system in which they emerge. However, this requires integrated policy strategies that exceed the scope of JAs, also demanding support from wider governance structures.
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Jeannine M. Love and Margaret Stout
Public administration has struggled to develop effective practices for fostering just and sustainable responses to social, economic, and environmental crises. In this chapter, we…
Abstract
Public administration has struggled to develop effective practices for fostering just and sustainable responses to social, economic, and environmental crises. In this chapter, we argue that radically democratic social movements demonstrate the potential the ideal-type of Integrative Governance holds for achieving the collaborative advantage that has remained elusive to those who study and utilize traditional governance networks. Drawing from myriad studies of social movements, we demonstrate how particular social movements prefigure the philosophy and practices of this approach. Herein we focus on movements’ ethical stance of Stewardship, politics of Radical Democracy, epistemological use of Integral Knowing, and administrative practice of Facilitative Coordination, emphasizing how they use information communication technology and one-to-one organizing tactics. These practices enable social movements to integrate across the domains of sustainability and translate radically democratic modes of association from micro- to macro-scale. Thus, they shift attention from network structures, the main focus of the governance literature, to power dynamics. These movements constitute an interconnected global phenomenon, fostering solidarity across difference and prefiguring a transformation of the global political economy. Therefore, they are nascent exemplars of Integrative Governance, a more just and effective approach to global governance.
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Ashley Bartlett, Meg Parsons and Andreas Neef
Private household insurance has been relatively uncommon among households in Samoa to date. Meanwhile, numerous other adaptation interventions are also being implemented…
Abstract
Private household insurance has been relatively uncommon among households in Samoa to date. Meanwhile, numerous other adaptation interventions are also being implemented, including community-based adaptation (CBA) projects which draw on the skills of the community to address the climate change-related hazards that are expected to affect local communities. Through semi-structured interviews with community members from the urban/peri-urban area around Apia (with and without insurance) and an insurance company representative, this research explores private household natural perils insurance uptake in Samoa and the effect that the uptake of this insurance has on household engagement in other climate change adaptation (CCA) strategies such as CBA projects. Findings suggest that individuals whose homes are already insured with natural perils insurance are more likely to express more individualistic values or beliefs than those without natural perils insurance. Insured homeowners commonly framed adaptation as a technical challenge, with insurance being part of the technical and expert-led approach to prepare for, manage and recover from extreme events. In contrast, householders without insurance perceived CCA as less of a technical task and more of a social process. Those individuals with private household natural perils insurance coverage (in keeping with their more individualistic values) reported that they were less engaged in CBA projects compared to participants without insurance (who held more communalistic values). Given the importance of household participation in CBA projects, an increased uptake of insurance may have problematic outcomes for the adaptive capacity of the broader community.