Our strategy

Melbourne Children’s Campus Mental Health Strategy (2021- 2026) 

We work with children, young people, families, and staff to make mental health everyone's business. 

Our vision is that all infants, children, young people, and their families have access to high-quality, equitable, consistent and preventative mental health care where and when they need it to achieve sustained, optimised developmental, health and wellbeing outcomes. 

The Campus Mental Health Strategy (CMHS) was developed to address the complex mental health needs of children and young people within paediatric healthcare. Bringing together the expertise of people with lived and living experience, clinicians, researchers, educators, and paediatric leaders, our integrated strategy is designed to holistically strengthen mental health research, education, and care of children, young people, and their families across the Melbourne Children’s Campus.  

 

Our objectives

Across campus, the strategy aims to: 

  • Integrate clinical and academic mental health research  

  • Develop evidence-based mental health education and resources for clinicians and staff 

  • Enable consistent quality child and family centred care inclusive of parents, carers, and siblings 

  • Advocate for the integration of mental health care with physical health care as part of usual practice 

  • Increase awareness and develop a shared understanding of trauma-informed care with a focus on preventing trauma and re-traumatisation for children, young people, families, and staff

 

Our approach

We are doing this by: 

  1. Engaging campus leaders to guide and champion our deliverables. 

  1. Establishing evidence, mapping existing programs, and defining key issues. 

  1. Analysing stakeholders, setting up engagement structures, and enhancing communication activities. 

  1. Co-designing resources with stakeholders and lived experience advisors. 

  1. Piloting activities across the campus for effectiveness and acceptability. 

  1. Evaluating impact using qualitative and quantitative measures. 

  1. Refining resources based on evaluation outcomes. 

  1. Scaling and embedding our deliverables into routine care and programs.

The CMHS at a glance

The Melbourne Children's Campus

The Melbourne Children’s Campus joins together The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), The University of Melbourne, Department of Paediatrics and is generously funded by The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation.

The purpose of the campus is to collaborate in advancing child and adolescent health through prevention, early intervention and health promotion, together with the highest quality clinical care, outstanding research and comprehensive education and training. 

 

How the CMHS brings together the three campus partners