May 2022: Campus Mental Health Strategy E-Update

Did you happen to catch the Campus Mental Health Strategy Grand Round earlier this month? We may be slightly biased, but we thought it was brilliant!!  Click on the link Campus MHS Grand Round and find out more about our Strategy and how we are going to integrate Lived Experience, Clinical Practice, Research and Education.

We’re on a mission here at the Campus Mental Health Strategy to “make mental health everyone’s business”.  Why?  Because we believe that a child and family’s wellbeing and mental health is inseparable from their physical health.  We believe evidence-based prevention, early detection and intervention can profoundly change the lives of children and their families for the better. We also believe in our staff, we know that with the right support and tools, we can make mental health everyone’s business.

Want to find out more? We don’t blame you! It’s incredibly exciting and we want you to be part of this movement too. There are several ways you can find out more! 

• Mental Health Central is our new website. Visit to find out more about the strategy. The website is where we keep all our news, updates and (as they develop) resources.
   
• Spotlight Series:  There is so much good work happening across the Campus Mental Health Strategy that we’d like to shine a Spotlight to celebrate and showcase.  

Our first Spotlight will shine on Lived Experience.  Engaging children, parents and carers with lived experience of mental health concerns and recovery is at the core of the Campus Mental Health Strategy, and we are determined to live the value “nothing about us without us”.

This is an exciting opportunity to hear from people who have worked in this space safely and successfully to develop transformative care.   

Keep an eye out for the Lived Experience Spotlight video in our next e-update. 

Welcome to our new team members 

We encourage you to go to our website Mental Health Central to meet the members of our Strategy Implementation Team. A warm welcome to our latest team members.  We are looking forward to working with you. 

Kayla Elliot has joined as a Research Assistant within Advocacy  
Kristen Van Bael has joined as a Research Assistant in the Somatoform Disorders Project. 

Q&A’s 

Over the last month we have received some fantastic questions that we’d like to share.  If you have a question, feel free to send it to cmhs@mcri.edu.au  

What do we mean by 'Campus'?   

The term Campus refers to a partnership between The Royal Children’s Hospital, The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and the Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne.  The partnership is an entity called the Melbourne Children’s Campus and shortened to the Campus.    

How was the Campus Mental Health Strategy developed? 

This Campus Mental Health Strategy has been 2 years in the making.  Over a 2-year period 60 people were consulted, from front line to Executive.  Through this process we identified so many ‘pockets of awesomeness’, great work being done across the Campus that we hope to build on. We also identified opportunities for improvement were identified and gaps explored.  The result, a 5-year strategy that integrates mental health research, education and clinical practice and improves mental health outcomes for infants, children, young people and their carers and families was born. 

What’s the difference between all the different strategies across the Campus? 

Campus Mental Health Strategy:   

• Partnership between The Royal Children’s Hospital, The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne
• Integration of mental health research, clinical practice and education  
• Considers mental health in all aspects of care  

RCH Transformation 

• Transformation of the RCH Mental Health Service to respond to the recommendations of the Royal Commission
• Focused on low prevalence, higher severity, and very complex support needs 

RCH Staff Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy 

• A Royal Children’s Hospital initiative, focused on the wellbeing and mental health of staff 
• Staff wellbeing and mental health is considered and supported at every level within the Royal Children’s Hospital 

The three initiatives differ in focus and scope, however, together provide a once in a lifetime opportunity to transform mental health care and wellbeing across the Campus. 

What’s next? 

The Strategy Implementation Team have mapped the key phases of the implementation over the next 2 years (Figure 1). During the Engage and Design phase, the rubber really starts to hit the road.  You can expect to see (and be involved in) design sessions, workshops, and some creative and deep thinking.  We are also thrilled to commence our Advocacy engagement and planning across the Campus. 

As always, if you are keen to be involved or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact cmhs@mcri.edu.au 

Figure 1:  Campus Mental Health Strategy Timeline

The Campus Mental Health Strategy is generously funded by The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation.
We thank them for their ongoing support.