Evaluating Navicare to improve mental health service access in regional Australia

Overview

https://www.aushsi.org.au/https://www.aushsi.org.au/

Improved access to appropriate and timely mental health care for people in outer regional and remote areas is needed in Australia where people are disproportionately affected by severe mental health conditions. Navicare is a model of care co-designed and piloted with communities and service providers and implemented in 2021 to address this issue. In 2022 national funding from National Health and Medical Research Council was obtained to evaluate the implementation of Navicare in three new communities in Central Queensland in collaboration with Wesley Medical Research, Beyond Blue and the Isaac Regional Council, named The Bridging Study. The study also aims to explore the potential scaling up of this model of care throughout Australia.

We are looking for a PhD student for this innovative implementation study that has been competitively funded. The scope of the PhD project can be tailored to the interests of the successful applicant. For example, focusing on the lived experience of people seeking help for mental ill-health using qualitative research, or looking at how implementation of the program might work using data visualisation methods from implementation and complexity science such as social network analysis or systems modelling. Understanding interconnections between environmental, social and economic factors on mental health outcomes in the region and the policy implications of this is another potential area the student could focus on using both quantitative and qualitative data (mixed methods). Additionally the student could explore the acceptability and design of the Navicare model specific to particular population groups such as youth, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, or LGBTQIA+ people.

Further information on The Bridging Study can be found here:

• QUT - NHMRC project tackles access to health care for people in regional & remote areas - Research
• The Bridging Study - AusHSI

An earmarked scholarship is available for the project linked to Category 1 national funding from National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). You may also be eligible for a top up scholarship.

Research activities

• Conduct a systematic or scoping review.
• Conduct a qualitative or mixed methods study. Data will be collected using community consultations, focus groups, interviews, observation, or document analysis, health service audit and literature.
• Collaborate with Care Navigators from Navicare, community members from the Greater Whitsundays region, and implementation scientists leading The Bridging Study at Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation (AusHSI).
• Publish research findings in reputable journals, feedback findings throughout the study to key stakeholders, and present at relevant conferences and workshops.

Outcomes

This project will investigate the perceptions and lived experience of people with mental ill-health accessing mental healthcare in regional and rural Australia, and/ or related service providers and policy makers. Practical recommendations and implementation strategies will be developed based on the findings.

Skills and experience

• First class honours or a Research Masters degree (or equivalent) in a health discipline, implementation or a related discipline.
• Mental health or regional and rural experience and training (e.g., mental health first aid).
• Qualitative or mixed methods research skills.
• Demonstrated experience in using software to manage data including NVivo.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, for presenting research findings and collaborating with interdisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated publication record (or potential) in peer-reviewed journals.

Scholarships

You may be eligible to apply for a research scholarship.

Explore our research scholarships

Keywords

• implementation
• mental health

Contact

Contact the supervisor for more information.