May 2023: RCH Foundation extends CMHS funding for 3 more years

Funding is assured for another 3 years.

The Melbourne Children’s Campus Mental Health Strategy is an ambitious multi-year project that aims to provide a uniform and evidence-based approach to mental health prevention, care and advocacy for patients and their families across Campus.  

The project is funded by the Royal Childrens Hospital Foundation, and we are delighted to announce that the Foundation has recently committed to continued funding for the project over the next 3 years. 

'Each year, thousands of children come to the RCH with physical health problems, but many of them also have mental health problems too. Our strategy provides us the opportunity to work together collaboratively on Campus to better support parents and families in identifying mental health concerns, while also developing new guidelines and models of care that we can share with the Victorian community.' Professor Harriet Hiscock, Paediatrician and Chair, Melbourne Children’s Campus Mental Health Strategy 

In the first two years of the project, we have engaged stakeholders across the campus, established a steering committee, and set up advisory and working groups. We have implemented a Lived Experience Strategy, commenced several research projects, and launched a website and newsletter. 

Over the next three years, we will develop and test a range of new ways of working. We will develop a core set of outcome measures for mental health research, which will allow us to compare results across interventions and see what works and what doesn’t, implement strategies that prevent trauma arising from medical care and support evidence-based care, and commence two more research projects to build the evidence base about how best to support priority populations. 

'Thanks to the Good Friday Appeal and the RCH1000 for your ongoing support with this innovate project.' Professor Harriet Hiscock, Paediatrician and Chair, Melbourne Children’s Campus Mental Health Strategy