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Director's message
At the end of 2020 I reflected on Arundhati Roy’s observation that "Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different" (2020). With the recent release of the final report and recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System we see an opportunity for change.
We welcome a recognition of the differential mental health burden for infants, children and adolescents (even before the pandemic) and the need for a service system that can respond adequately. In particular the regional approach complemented by potential care hubs aligns with the national interest in improving equitable community child health.
In our first newsletter for 2021 we put a spotlight on children’s mental health. Good mental health is fundamental to healthy child development. It helps children build positive social, emotional, behavioural, thinking and communication skills. These are the necessary skills for thriving in the 21st century and in pandemic recovery over the next few years. They also lay the foundation for better mental health and wellbeing later in life. In this newsletter you will hear how the Centre for Community Child Health is partnering with families, services, communities and government to make a positive impact on children’s mental health with a particular focus on prevention and equity. We consider all stages of the dual continuum for mental health competence and problems; when children are healthy, coping, struggling or unwell.
We are also excited to announce the first of our 2021 Thriving Children, Thriving Communities webinar series, which brings together clinicians, researchers, practitioners, community members and policymakers to tackle issues of significance in the area of equity and innovation in early childhood.
In this newsletter we will also give you an update on the other areas of children’s health and development. We are building new evidence and knowledge (see feature publications), and using evidence to develop resources for families about vaccines and to help parents navigate testing for newly diagnosed hearing loss. If you are an early childhood health, education, care or research professional, we hope to see you in one of our upcoming training and development sessions.
Professor Sharon Goldfeld
Director, Centre for Community Child Health
Spotlight on mental health
Australia's child mental health system
Clinicians have identified the barriers faced by Australian parents when seeking help for common child mental health conditions and the opportunities for improving the health system.
Nurse home visits improve mother’s mental health
right@home, the largest Australian randomised controlled trial of nurse home visiting, shows benefits for the mental health of mothers experiencing adversity.
Supporting mental health care in primary school
Schools have been flagged as an ideal, universal platform to better support the mental health and wellbeing of children. A pilot program recommended by The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health system will expand to 26 primary schools to help teachers more confidently support student's mental health.
An oration: delivered by Professor Frank Oberklaid AM
Join us for the 2021 Winston S. Rickards Memorial Oration delivered by Professor Frank Oberklaid AM. Hear about the opportunities and challenges to achieving an accessible, equitable, and evidence-based system for prevention, timely intervention, and effective management of child mental health issues.
Invitation (free public event): The Elephant Leaves the Room: An increased (and belated) focus upon policy and service reform in child mental health.
Date: Monday 19 April 2021
Time: 7:30pm - 9:30pm AEDT
Venue: Ella Latham Theatre, The Royal Children's' Hospital, Parkville
Online: Please RSVP via tryBooking to receive Zoom details from the organiser
FREE webinar | Using quality improvement
Quality improvement (QI) is one of the ‘adaptive learning’ approaches used by the Centre for Community Child Health. Join us to discover more about QI in the first webinar of our Thriving Children, Thriving Communities 2021 series, Learning and changing: Using quality improvement to create more equitable services.
Hosted by Professor Sharon Goldfeld, the webinar will explore what quality improvement is, and how it is being used to build understanding of communities and create partnerships for change. You can join the discussion by participating in a live Q&A with our panel.
Date: 25 March 2021
Time: 12:30pm - 1:30pm AEDT
Cost: Free
Clinical services
The return of face-to-face clinics
As part of the RCH’s COVID recovery plan, the Centre’s specialist developmental-behavioural clinical team is now able to offer a limited number of face-to-face appointments, in addition to our telehealth clinics. We can see children referred to RCH by their GPs. For information about our paediatric clinical services visit rch.org.au/ccch/services/.
As part of the RCH’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital has made some changes to its visitor restrictions. For key information including translated resources, please visit the RCH website.
Resources for parents
Supporting parents of children with congenital hearing loss
A new series of resources from the Childhood Hearing Australasian Medical Professionals (CHAMP) network help parents explore the recommended tests for congenital hearing loss.
Helping families get clear, reliable information about vaccines
COVID-19 vaccine development has happened faster than usual but the process has been thorough. raisingchildren.net.au has worked in partnership with the Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre to provide a suite of vaccine resources so families can make informed decisions about vaccination.
Thriving communities
Neighbourhoods and children’s development: What’s the link?
A new report explores how features of the built environment may influence children’s health and development.
GenV project launch
MCRI's innovative Generation Victoria (GenV) project — one of the world's largest birth and parent cohort studies — was officially launched in December. The initial months of participant recruitment shows strong community interest in and support for GenV.
Feature publications
A new case study summarises existing life course frameworks that may prove helpful in planning and communicating Generation Victoria (GenV).
Selecting life course frameworks to guide and communicate large new cohort studies: Generation Victoria (GenV) case study.
This journal article explores three ideas that collectively could achieve more equitable outcomes for children facing disadvantage and experiencing adversity.
A Novel 3-Part Approach to Tackle the Problem of Health Inequities in Early Childhood.
This study explores the benefits of preschool participation and how to reduce developmental inequities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children.
Training and development
NEW online workshop | Understanding children's sleep from 0-5 years
This new workshop is an online version of the original face-to-face course. The workshop aims to help practitioners discuss the science of sleep and age-specific sleep and settling strategies with families and encourage healthy sleep practices.
Delivery: Online via Zoom (2 x two-hour sessions)
Dates: 19 April and 3 May 2021
Time: 9:30am - 11:30am (each session)
Cost: $250
Expand your skills | Upcoming course dates
19 April Understanding children's sleep from birth to five years [Register]
27 April Introduction to the Family Partnership Model [Register]
30 April Difficult Conversations: How do we have them? [Register]
12 May Self-Care for Healthcare and Early Years Professionals [Register]
18 May Engaging Families: Building and Sustaining Helpful Relationships [Register]
21 May PEDS [Register]
27 May Family Partnership Model Foundation Course [Register]
25 June PEDS Train the trainer [Register]
14 July Reflective Practice [Register]
eLearning courses
Infant Sleep [Enrol]
Laying the Foundations [Enrol]
Let's Read [Enrol]
PEDS Foundation (Course 1) & PEDS Advanced Practice (Course 2) [Enrol]
Understanding sleep and safe sleep practices in early childhood education and care [Enrol]
PEDS and Laying the Foundations eLearning courses are accredited for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points.
Ask us about our customised training options or send a query to training.ccch@rch.org.au
The Centre for Community Child Health is a department of The Royal Children’s Hospital and research group of Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. The Centre contributes to improving the health, development and wellbeing of children by identifying, synthesising and translating the best evidence to inform policy, service delivery, practice and parenting.
