Monthly Archives: June 2018

Developing, designing and deploying a perinatal mental health referral pathway

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Abstract

Mental health nurses have the skills to collaborate with primary health providers, work side-by-side with tertiary health providers, and provide support and information to those who experience mental health difficulties and their families. But how do we communicate this? How do we make it easy for referrers and consumers to find the ‘best fit’ for identified needs? How do we promote collaborative care? How do we reach our audience?

This poster presentation is the third iteration of a referral pathway that has undergone the usual quality improvement measures of consultation and review. The poster is also a showcase for collaboration: the content was gathered in collaboration with service providers and consumers; this information was then organised, revised and presented in collaboration with a graphic designer; the completed pathway was then deployed, reviewed and made accessible in collaboration with a web designer.

This perinatal mental health referral pathway does not purport to be a template for others, but may serve as one example of how to develop, design and deploy accessible information about local service options. The poster presentation hopes to serve as a starting point for those who are interested in articulating a service’s relationship to the consumer and other agencies. The poster also demonstrates a clinically relevant use for Quick Response (QR) Code – please bring your smart phone if you intend to view the perinatal mental health referral pathway.

NB: This 2011 Version is redundant. NOT for clinical use. Please use only as an example.

Printable/downloadable PDF version here: referralpathwayworkflow2011

Reference/Citation

McNamara, P., Horn, F. & Dalzell, M. (2012) Developing, designing and deploying a perinatal mental health referral pathway. Poster presented at ‘The fabric of life’, the 38th Annual International Conference of the Australian College of Mental Health Nursing, Darwin. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1447-0349.2012.00878.x

or, if you want to cite/see the journal entry

McNamara, P., Horn, F. & Dalzell, M. (2012) Developing, designing and deploying a perinatal mental health referral pathway. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, volume 21, issue S1, pages 16-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1447-0349.2012.00878.x

Notes

This flowchart first began to be mapped-out in 2010, the version above was finalised in November 2011, and presented at a mental health nursing conference in October 2012. The workflow and the position that developed/supported it became redundant in 2013.

My versions were smudged pencil on paper versions. Freya Horn, now working as Graphic Artist at www.designerinyourpocket.com.au, turned it into the legible and attractive flowchart you see above. Thanks Freya!

There is some optimism about money flowing back in to perinatal mental health services in Australia. With that in mind, I’m releasing this old work from my USB drive to my website. Hopefully it will save others wasting time “reinventing the wheel”. Updating the wheel will be required, of course, but there’s no need to start from scratch. 🙂

Just to reiterate: This 2011 Version is redundant. It is NOT for clinical use. Please use only as an example for how you/your local service may want to might develop a map of the local referral pathway and workflow.

End

That’s it. Hopefully this will be of interest/use to someone in future.

As always, your feedback is welcome via the comments section below.

Paul McNamara, 14th June 2018

Short URL: meta4RN.com/pathway

2018 ACMHN Consultation Liaison / Perinatal Infant Mental Health Conference on Twitter

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The 16th ACMHN Consultation Liaison Special Interest Group annual conference, held in conjunction with the 7th ACMHN Perinatal Infant Mental Health Special Interest Group annual conference, was held at the Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital from Wednesday 6 June to Friday 8 June 2018. The theme of the conference was “The Art of Applying the Science: Consultation Liaison and Perinatal & Infant Mental Health Nurses in Action”. As is typical of healthcare conferences, a conference hashtag was announced; #ACMHN was used on Twitter by six of the fifty-ish conference participants.

One of the observations made by Martin Salzmann-Erikson in his paper Mental health nurses’ use of Twitter for professional purposes during conference participation using #ACMHN2016 was that conference participants who do not engage with Twitter may feel that they’re excluded from a “privileged backchannel” of communication. On one hand this is complete nonsense. No conference participants are excluded from Twitter. Those who do not use Twitter/the conference hashtag are just exercising a choice. On the other hand, they may not be using Twitter and/or a conference hashtag simply because they have not been exposed to a reason to do so. It is with the latter in mind that the Tweets using the #ACMHN hashtag over the course of the conference are collated below.

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#ACMHN Tweeps

If you’ve scanned through the content above you’ll see that two Tweeps (ie: people who use Twitter) generated the vast majority of the #ACMHN Tweets. It’s not obvious from a quick glance, but many of the #ACMHN Tweets were retweeted (ie: shared). Seventeen Tweeps used/retweeted the #ACMHN hashtag 167 times over the course of the conference [data source], they are:
Cynthia Delgado @Cyn4CLMH*
Kim Foster @FostKim*
#HELLOMYNAMEISBJ @FewingsBj*
Anabel de la Riva @AnabeldelaRiva*
Chris Egginton @ChrisEgginton*
NWMH Graduate Nurses @NWMHgrads*
Peta Marks @petamarks*
Sharene Duncan @brisequine*
Chelesee @Chelesee1*
Veriti @Veritihealth*
A/Prof Rhonda Wilson @RhondaWilsonMHN*
Australian College of Mental Health Nurses @ACMHN*
Melissa Sweet @croakeyblog*
#HelloMyNameIs Kenny (RN) @kennygibsonnhs*
International Network of Nurse Leaders @inNurseLeaders*
Dr. Anja K. Peters @thesismum*
Paul McNamara [me] @meta4RN*
Key
* #ACMHN conference delegates [n = 6]
* Australian #ACMHN retweeters [n = 7]
* International #ACMHN retweeters [n = 4]

Many thanks to all who shared conference info with the #ACMHN hashtag. Thanks also to those who commented on/interacted with Tweets using the hashtag, but did not use the hashtag themselves (these Tweeps are not listed above).

Final Notes

  1. Each of my Tweets that announced a workshop or presentation were pre-scheduled using Hootsuite (ie: I wasn’t as busy Tweeting during the conference as it seems).
  2. Collating Tweets on a web page is irritatingly time-consuming. It used to be much quicker and easier (missing you Storify!). The upside of collating Tweets on a web page is that they serve as a record/brief notes of the conference, so if I need to come back to anything it’s all in one easy-to-find place.  Hopefully others will find it of interest too.
  3. Just in case you skipped-over it: watching the vid attached to Tweet 92 is definitely worth it – a highlight of the conference!
  4. Previous visitors to meta4RN.com may be experiencing a sense of déjà vu. To rid yourself of spooky feels, visit this same-same-but-different companion piece:
    #ACMHN Looking back at the 2013 Consultation Liaison / Perinatal Infant Conference through a Social Media Lens meta4RN.com/noosa 

End

That’s it. Thanks for visiting. As always your thoughts and feedback are welcomed in the comments section below.

Paul McNamara, 10th June 2018

Short URL: meta4RN.com/Brisneyland

PS:

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Diabetes and Emotional Health

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This page is in support of an education session I’m doing at EXPOsing diabetes Cairns on Saturday 9th June 2018.

About

EXPOsing diabetes is a one-day educational event for people living with type 1 and 2 diabetes.

This event will equip you with the knowledge you need to live well with diabetes.

The day consists of interactive and engaging presentations from health professionals who work closely in the area of diabetes. You will come away from the day feeling more confident, motivated and more empowered to live well with your diabetes.
[Source: www.diabetesqld.org.au/get-involved/what’s-on/2018/june/exposing-diabetes-cairns.aspx]

Intro

Paul McNamara is a Fellow of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses. He has been working in Cairns since 1995. Paul’s day job is providing mental health support and education to general hospital patients and staff.

Presentation

The presentation itself can be accessed via prezi.com/user/meta4RN or by clicking on the image below:


Key Messages, References + Further Info

The session is an oral presentation, so I don’t intend to replicate all of the content here.

Collated below are some of the key messages of the presentation, the references/evidence I’ve used, and how to access further info.

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“It’s a Fine Line” – Myth vs Reality meta4RN.com/fineline
.

About 20% of us will experience mental health problems in any given year [source: 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing].

About 45% of us will experience mental health problems in our lifetime [source: 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing].

Up to half of us with diabetes will experience mental health problems in our lifetime [source: Diabetes Australia].

Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health problems [source: Mindframe].

Depression, anxiety and other mental problems are usually multifactorial. A good way to understand this is to consider the biopsychosocial model of mental health [source: Engel 1977].

Australia has introduced the idea of “stepped care” to respond to mental health matters [source: Northern Queensland Primary Health Network].

For information about prevention or early intervention with mental health problems, often the “best fit” will be online info via headtohealth.gov.au and/or via one of the apps available via the same website [source: Northern Queensland Primary Health Network].

If the online/app route doesn’t help, or if you’re experiencing symptoms of mental health difficulties, you should chat with your GP about it. S/he will discuss treatment and support options with you, which may include medication and/or referral to one of the local speciality services. It’s a good idea to book a longer appointment with your GP to discuss mental health stuff: neither you or your GP will want to feel rushed [source: Northern Queensland Primary Health Network].

If the above options haven’t helped, the mental health problem is complex, severe or urgent, it’s outside of business hours, and/or your questions would best be answered by a local specialist mental health professional, phone the Cairns Acute Care Team on 1300 64 2255 (1300 MH CALL) [source: Queensland Health].

End

Many thanks to Claire Massingham, Events Coordinator @ Diabetes Queensland for inviting me to present at EXPOsing diabetes Cairns. Thanks also to Endocrinologist Dr Luke Conway for making the suggestion to Claire.

A quick clarification: although this web page has info about how to access mental health support, it’s my personal web site. I can’t offer direct support or referrals from here. Please access further info and/or support via the options listed above.

That said, I welcome comments in the comments section below.

Thanks for visiting. 🙂

Paul McNamara, 2nd June 2018

Short URL: meta4RN.com/diabetes