Podcast: Navigating the mental health system

General practitioner Louise Stone and psychiatrist Philip Keightley join us to discuss Australia’s mental health system, the wellbeing of health workers, and what policymakers can do to improve outcomes for patients on this episode of Policy Forum Pod.

Why is it ‘no longer’ possible to provide best practice mental health care for everybody in Australia’s public health system? What needs to change to improve the wellbeing of healthcare workers? And how can policymakers ensure there is greater equity for patients in terms of access to quality mental health care? On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, Dr Louise Stone and Dr Philip Keightley from The Australian National University (ANU) Medical School join Dr Arnagretta Hunter and Professor Sharon Bessell to examine what changes are needed in Australia’s mental health system. Listen here: https://bit.ly/3CN9Y1E

If you, or anyone you know needs help you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or via http://www.lifeline.org.au/ or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 or via https://www.beyondblue.org.au/.

Louise Stone is a general practitioner with clinical, research, education and policy expertise in mental health, and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Social Foundations of Medicine group at ANU Medical School.

Philip Keightley is a Clinical Lecturer at ANU Medical School and works clinically in perinatal psychiatry. He has clinical and research interests in psychotherapy in the medically ill, clinician wellbeing, and perinatal psychiatry.

Arnagretta Hunter is the Human Futures Fellow at ANU College of Health and Medicine, a cardiologist, physician, and a Senior Clinical Lecturer at ANU Medical School.

Sharon Bessell is Professor of Public Policy and Director of both the Children’s Policy Centre and the Poverty and Inequality Research Centre at ANU Crawford School of Public Policy.

Show notes | The following were mentioned during this episode:

‘Taking the temperature of Australian health care’ featuring Claire Skinner and Lesley Russell, Policy Forum Pod (2022)

National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, 2020-21, Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022)

‘Clinical update on psychiatric outcome measurement’ by Jeffrey Looi et al, Australasian Psychiatry (2022)

Experiences of Health Workers in the COVID-19 Pandemic by Marie Bismark et al, Routledge (2022)

‘Time for work to change’ featuring Lyndall Strazdins and John Falzon, Policy Forum Pod (2021)

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