Mental health program expands More than ever, building resilience in children and supporting young people’s mental health is vital.
A beneficial form of screen time
Healthy minds
A new digital eHub will better connect children and families with available mental health support.
Parents and carers can use a new app to distinguish between normal childhood ups and downs and emerging mental health problems.
One in four children will have a mental health disorder at some point, with puberty a key developmental stage when mental health issues emerge.
The planned online Child and Family eHub is designed to improve access and engagement with social and mental health services to enable early intervention, especially for disadvantaged families.
The Raising Children Network’s Raising Healthy Minds wellbeing app helps families tell whether the behaviour of children aged up to 12 needs further investigation.
The Mental Health in Primary Schools Pilot, developed by Murdoch Children’s with the University of Melbourne and the Victorian Department of Education and Training, has now expanded into more schools.
Murdoch Children’s Professor Sharon Goldfeld, Director of the Centre for Community Child Health, secured a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Partnership Projects grant to design and build the eHub.
First started as a pilot program in 10 schools in 2020, the program received Victorian Government and Ian Potter Foundation funding in 2021 to expand to 100 schools by early 2022.
Her team and Melbourne Children’s Campus collaborators will co-develop and test the eHub in three communities experiencing significant vulnerability.
The program embeds a child mental health and wellbeing co-ordinator in schools to help identify and manage emerging mental health issues in students and connect education, social and health services. Early evaluation showed that it significantly increased teachers’ confidence in addressing students’ mental health issues.
The free online resource provides easily accessible local information and connections to health and social care systems. “In Australia, 14 per cent of children have a mental health disorder,” Professor Goldfeld said. “We urgently need effective prevention and early intervention strategies to mitigate the huge rise in child and family mental health issues.”
The free app is tailored to a child’s needs and circumstances, including their reaction to the pandemic. It supports parents, carers and professionals to address wellbeing, behaviour and emotions, providing the latest evidence-based information on self and family care. Murdoch Children’s Professor Frank Oberklaid and Raising Children Network Director Derek McCormack developed the app with parents and health professionals.
Ready, set, play!
Raising Children Network
Yard size does not affect children’s physical activity levels, suggesting that children’s exercise might not be affected by denser cities and shrinking backyards.
The Raising Children Network is supported by the Australian Government to provide families with free, reliable and up-to-date evidence-based information on all aspects of raising children.
A 2021 Institute-led study found no association between yard space and greenness and physical activity, highlighting a child’s capacity for outside play regardless of the size of their yard.
It also conducts research and works with other groups. Member organisations are the Parenting Research Centre, Murdoch Children’s and the RCH Centre for Community Child Health.
The study recorded the physical activity of 5,276 Melburnian six-year-olds over eight days. On average, they met physical activity guidelines of at least 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity. Murdoch Children’s and University of Melbourne researcher Dr Suzanne Mavoa said it is still important to identify ways to promote children’s activity levels and access to play spaces as a public health priority. “As cities become increasingly densified, urban design, shared indoor and outdoor spaces and schools will need to play a greater role in supporting young children’s physical activity and active play,” she said.
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Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
Annual Report 2021
Celebrating 35 years
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