A Psychology Research Seminar entitled Rural youth mental health – where’s the research? will be streamed online with Zoom on Friday, 22 May from 12 – 1pm.
Rural Youth Mental Health – Where’s the research? Presented by Warren Bartik, University of New England
About one-third of young people reside in regional and remote Australia. While just under a quarter (23%) of all young people report symptoms of probable mental illness, young people living in regional and remote areas have double the prevalence of mood disorders such as depression and anxiety, and double the rate of suicide. Despite this, less than half of the young people who need support, access specialist services. Whilst there are likely reasons for this, stigma, availability, and practical barriers being among these, there remains a distinct lack of data about rural youth mental health with regards to prevalence, severity, access and engagement and as such the specific needs of rural young people are not being addressed adequately in policy and planning. No surprise then that mental health issues for rural young people will continue to rise. There are unique challenges in rural Australia for young people. The current drought and the impact on families and communities together with the broader issue of climate change and a seeming unwillingness from Government to convincingly address this has placed climate change as a number one concern for young people.
There are also major issues for Aboriginal young people, young people who are LGBTI, and young exposed to DV and homelessness. We know that the cumulative risk of experiencing multiple problems can increase the likelihood of a psychological disorder over time and there has been the added concerns of the bush fire disaster followed by COVID-19, but there remains minimal research assessing this in young people and in particular rural and remote young people. What then is the research agenda, how can this be progressed, and how can this play a greater role in informing policy and practice to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people in rural and remote Australia. These are the themes to be discussed in this presentation.
All welcome
Join the research talk by clicking the link below and following the prompts. The final prompt will be ‘Join with computer audio’.
To join the Zoom Meeting, click here – https://une-au.zoom.us/j/8549283640?pwd=cm5sTlNyL3ZPTGpDRG5GeGlFMmdxQT09 (Password – 803917)
For further information, contact Bruce Stevenson (6773 2565, bstevens@une.edu.au). If you would like to view any of our past talks, please click on the following link – Psychology Seminar Series