CENTRE FOR RURAL & REMOTE MENTAL HEALTH Quarterly Report October – December 2020 About the CRRMH The Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health (CRRMH) is based in Orange NSW and is a major rural initiative of the University of Newcastle and the NSW Ministry of Health. Our staff are located across rural and remote NSW. The Centre is committed to improving mental health and wellbeing in rural and remote communities. We focus on the following key areas: • the promotion of good mental health and the prevention of mental illness; • developing the mental health system to better meet the needs of people living in rural and remote regions; and • understanding and responding to rural suicide. Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health As the Australian Collaborating Centre for the International Foundation for PO Box 8043 Integrated Care, we promote patient-centred rather than provider-focused Orange East NSW 2800 care that integrates mental and physical health concerns. T +61 2 6363 8444 E [email protected] As part of the University of Newcastle, all of our activities are underpinned by research evidence and evaluated to ensure appropriateness and effectiveness. crrmh.com.au @crrmh @crrmhnsw /company/crrmh 2 | Centre for Rural & Remote Mental Health Quarterly Report: October – December 2020 Contents Report Page Director’s Report 4 Snapshot of the Quarter 5 Research 6 Connections 10 Communications 12 Online Connections 14 Partnerships 16 Rural Adversity Mental Health Program (RAMHP) 22 Staff News 23 Appendix 25 3 | Centre for Rural & Remote Mental Health Quarterly Report: October - December 2020 Director’s Report Centre Director Professor David Perkins I’m sure I was not alone on New Year’s Eve in feeling a certain relief that 2020 had come to an end, combined with some trepidation about what lies ahead in 2021. The combination of bushfires, drought, floods, pests, trade conflicts and COVID added up to an extraordinary set of challenges for rural and remote residents. In the last quarter the CRRMH saw the completion of some important projects which have required rigorous and sustained effort over many months. Our paper on rural adversity attempted to clarify how adverse events can contribute to isolation, loneliness, poor mental health and even self-harm and suicide. Our team reviewed an enormous amount of complex literature and identified the core processes which need to be addressed in a world where extreme events appear more common and more serious than most have experienced in a lifetime. The findings were not restricted to academic reports or articles but appeared online, in newspapers, in blogs and other accessible formats to inform policies, services and individual action. We also published an Indigenous version of our acclaimed “How are you going?” poster, the content of which was consulted with Indigenous mental health workers, and artwork created by Wiradjuri woman Trudy Sloane. The value of all versions of the poster, including our youth and Indigenous versions, lies in enabling people to think about their own wellbeing and whether they should seek help from a health professional. Research conducted by the CRRMH suggests that people may not be well informed about what constitutes normal emotional responses and what are problems that might benefit from professional help, and the poster assists them to make a self-assessment. We continued our partnership with Everymind, producing a range of materials for rural people who work in, own, or manage small businesses. We have been aware for some years that large businesses have invested in policies and services to promote mental wellbeing and prevent mental injury, however many small businesses don’t have human resources departments and in 2020, many were concerned about viability and staying in business. We worked with a number of small business owners to develop a blog series that we hope will be of value to a group with poor access to appropriate support. I would also like to note the extraordinary performance of our staff who completed their work in conditions of high intensity when many of the normal elements of face- to-face meetings and visits were impossible. Zoom meetings can be a poor substitute for human interaction and the number of zoom meetings can expand to fill the time available. We all hope that some degree of normality can resume sooner rather than later. Finally, I note as I write this that the Chief Fire Officer of Western Australia is briefing the press about a large bushfire in a rural area near Perth. This is a timely reminder that just like when we had our own bushfire crisis in NSW only 12 months ago, our work is important and that the people we serve need our best efforts in developing accessible and effective means of support. Wishing you a happy and healthy 2021; a year in which the CRRMH will celebrate 20 years. David Perkins 4 | Centre for Rural & Remote Mental Health Quarterly Report: October – December 2020 Snapshot of the Quarter Research Connections Communications Online Connections Rural and Remote Rural adversity paper Launch of series 4 of Over 10,000 people Mental Health and article published Let’s Talk podcast visited the RAMHP Symposium in The Conversation and Indigenous How website are you going? poster Partnerships Partnerships RAMHP Staff News 403 people linked to care Cuppa, Connect & Create Research Associate 121 training courses Donna Read retired events with Dept of delivered to 1,732 Primary Industries and after six years with attended participants the CRRMH GIVIT 142 community events attended 5 | Centre for Rural & Remote Mental Health Quarterly Report: October – December 2020 Research Compiled by Research Lead Hazel Dalton and Research Assistant Angela Booth Wellbeing in rural small business The CRRMH and RAMHP have continued collaborative work with EveryMind on wellbeing in rural small business, providing rural engagement support (including in rural communities) of their Ahead for Business project. With the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the planned on the groundwork was delayed to this quarter - a summary of 2020 can be seen in the Partnerships section. Dr Kris Gotschall coordinated a weekly blog series representing the lived experience of rural small business owners, with 21 in total (7 in this quarter). In parallel to this work, Kris led a research project investigating the experiences of rural small business owners and their Rural Adversity wellbeing, with 12 people interviewed in-depth, with thematic analysis conducted. A report has been drafted with The last quarter of 2020 saw the culmination of a year’s collaborative work recommendations that will be relevant for both RAMHP and revisiting our concept of rural adversity (literature review, collaborative Ahead for Business, to be finalised early 2021. workshop and iterative development)– with the publication of a new conceptual paper – Lawrence-Bourne et al (2020) What Is Rural Adversity, How Does It Affect Wellbeing and What Are the Implications for Action? In the International Journal of Environment Research and Public Health. There has been considerable traction with it in the media. With an Altmetric attention score of 263, it is in the top 5% of all research outputs, it has been mentioned by 33 news outlets (Perkins D - Preparing rural communities for the adversity that will come. The Canberra Times and others), including a piece written specifically for The Conversation (Perkins D and Dalton H – Bushfires, Drought, COVID: Why rural Australians' mental health is taking a battering.) For more detailed information please see Appendices 1-5 6 | Centre for Rural & Remote Mental Health Quarterly Report: October – December 2020 Research Compiled by Research Lead Hazel Dalton and Research Assistant Angela Booth Communication and information sharing - Conferences and other forums The CRRMH is committed to supporting the development of conferences and other forums as well as participating in them to promote the dissemination and sharing of research and knowledge on rural and remote mental health. This quarter CRRMH staff participated in the organising and running of three conferences: • The 13th Postgraduate and Postdoctoral Conference of the Priority Research Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research (University of Newcastle) was held virtually on 16 October. As a PRC Early Career Researcher Committee member, CRRMH’s Tonelle Handley played a vital role on the organising committee. The conference had a steady attendance of over 50 attendees all day (a mixture of students and staff) with 34 talks on the program. • The 12th Australian Rural & Remote Mental Health Symposium, which was held virtually 26-28 October. CRRMH Director David Perkins played a key role on the organising committee and served as Chair for the Conference. The CRRMH was a conference sponsor and actively participated in the online exhibition sessions. CRRMH staff attendees: David Perkins, Tessa Cummins, Hazel Dalton, Vanessa Delaney, Kris Gottschall, Nic Powell, Joanne Lawrence-Bourne and Claire Gander. Dr Hazel Dalton, Prof Jane Farmer and Prof David Perkins presented the opening plenary session - Rural Adversity and mental health: better understanding for improved wellbeing. There were 522 online attendees, from rural, remote, regional and metropolitan areas and included consumers, carers, practitioners, policymakers and researchers. Themes that emerged from the conference include: (a) The Importance of Place; (b) The Environmental and Social Determinants; (c); and (d) Health System Issues – for more