The health inequities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, rooted in the historical and ongoing negative impacts of colonisation and disrupted traditional lifestyles, sees higher rates of illness and hospitalisations, increased morbidity and higher premature death rates than other Australians. Nurses represent the majority…

Mental health literacy (MHL) encompasses understanding mental health and learning how to obtain and maintain good mental health. Increasing MHL may increase help-seeking behaviors and positive mental health. This study aimed to identify school-based MHL interventions for children/youth using a scoping review methodology following the Johanna…

Children with intellectual disability experience significant challenges in accessing and receiving high-quality healthcare leading to poorer health outcomes and negative patient experiences. Families of these children often report a need for healthcare staff to better understand, communicate, and collaborate for better care while staff acknowledge…

Limited empirical evidence is available regarding the uptake and effectiveness of school-based mental health and wellbeing programs implemented in Australian schools. This study aimed to characterise the delivery of programs in primary (elementary) schools across New South Wales, Australia, and to assess this information against published ratings…

Despite enduring and unacceptable disparities in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians as well as people living in rural and remote locations, evidence indicates that health services are not routinely evaluated. This article describes an exploration of a context where evaluators and community partners have achieved…

Objective: The Bridging the Gap Between Physical and Mental Illness in Community Pharmacy ("PharMIbridge") randomised controlled trial (RCT) aims to test the effectiveness of a pharmacist-led support service in improving medication adherence, and the physical and mental health of people living with severe and persistent mental illness…

Health professionals require specific knowledge and a broad range of skills and attributes to work and reside in rural environments. It is important students are offered the opportunity to undertake a rural professional experience placement (PEP) to ensure they develop a breadth of understanding of healthcare practice with opportunities to apply…

Australian undergraduate programmes are implementing curriculum aimed at better preparing graduates to work in Indigenous health settings, but the efficacy of these programmes is largely unknown. To begin to address this, we obtained baseline data upon entry to tertiary education (Time 1) and follow-up data upon completion of an Indigenous studies…

During COVID-19, rates of mental health issues, particularly anxiety, rose significantly in university students. In the scramble to adapt to online learning, university professors were overwhelmed with material aimed at facilitating a supportive learning experience and preserving student academic performance in online contexts yet were…

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of an online chronic disease self-management program for South Australia residents. Method: Data were collected online at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. The intervention was an asynchronous 6-week chronic disease self-management program offered online. The authors measured eight health status measures,…

The co-occurrence of substance use and mental health problems, often referred to as dual diagnosis (DD), is increasingly recognised as commonplace within substance abuse treatment programs. Two-hundred and thirty-four individuals from 9 Australian Salvation Army drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs completed a 3-month post-discharge telephone…

Minimising discrepancies between Australia's rural and the more favourable urban health status relates to more than workforce recruitment, retention and access to health services: A proactive strategy, using resources at hand, can empower people to improve their health. Academics from a nurse education unit have, therefore, regularly engaged with…

Informal carers of an adult with mental illness have asked that respite care be an integral component of mental health service provision. The present study involved a pilot investigation of the effectiveness of accessing respite care for carers of individuals with a mental illness. It was hypothesised that compared to carers who have not accessed…

Universities have much to contribute to the improvement of health delivery, research, and teaching/learning. In progressing health reform, the Government should be mindful of the need to: (1) strengthen high quality medical research; (2) promote translation of research to teaching, population health and health services; and (3) address Health…

Action Learning is now a well established strategy for reflective inquiry in healthcare. Whilst a great deal is know about action learning there has been inadequate research on the process of learning that takes place, and the impact that this holds for individuals, groups or organisations. This article reports on the findings of 15-month action…