Evaluating Navicare to improve mental health service access in regional Australia

Overview

https://www.aushsi.org.au/https://www.aushsi.org.au/

Improved access to appropriate and timely mental health care for people in outer regional and remote areas is needed in Australia where people are disproportionately affected by severe mental health conditions. Navicare is a model of care co-designed and piloted with communities and service providers and implemented in 2021 to address this issue. In 2022 national funding from National Health and Medical Research Council was obtained to evaluate the implementation of Navicare in three new communities in Central Queensland in collaboration with Wesley Medical Research, Beyond Blue and the Isaac Regional Council, named The Bridging Study. The study also aims to explore the potential scaling up of this model of care throughout Australia.

We are looking for a PhD student for this competitively funded project. The scope of the PhD project can be tailored to the interests of the successful applicant, for example, focusing on policy makers, service providers or the lived experience of people seeking help for mental ill-health.

Further information on The Bridging Study can be found here:

• QUT - NHMRC project tackles access to health care for people in regional & remote areas - Research
• The Bridging Study - AusHSI

An earmarked scholarship is available for the project linked to Category 1 national funding from National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). You may also be eligible for a top up scholarship.

Research activities

• Conduct a scoping review on care navigation services for people with mental ill-health in regional and remote communities.
• Conduct a qualitative study of the lived experience of people with mental ill-health accessing mental health services in regional and remote areas, and the perspectives of service providers in those areas and/or policy makers. Data will be collected using community consultations, focus groups, and interviews.
• If a candidate has an interest in conducting quantitative research, an alternate mixed methods project using both qualitative and quantitative data is a possibility. That alternate project would focus on adapting mental health care navigation services to fit local needs.
• Collaborate with Care Navigators from the Navicare service, community members from the Greater Whitsundays region, and implementation scientists leading The Bridging Study at Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation (AusHSI).
• Publish research findings in reputable journals, feedback findings throughout the study to key stakeholders, and present at relevant conferences and workshops.

Outcomes

This project seeks to understand the perceptions and lived experience of people with mental ill-health accessing mental healthcare in regional and rural Australia, and/ or related service providers and policy makers. Practical recommendations for mental health service delivery will be developed based on the findings.

Skills and experience

• First class honours or a Research Masters degree (or equivalent) in a health discipline, implementation or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated publication record in peer-reviewed journals is desirable.
• Mental health or regional and rural experience and training (e.g., mental health first aid) is desirable but not essential.
• Qualitative or mixed methods research skills.
• Demonstrated experience in using software to manage data is desirable (e.g. NVivo).
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, for collecting data, presenting research findings and collaborating with interdisciplinary teams.

Scholarships

You may be eligible to apply for a research scholarship.

Explore our research scholarships

Keywords

• implementation
• mental health

Contact

Contact the supervisor for more information.