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Pioneering research at ANU that aims to empower mental health consumers has been praised by the Federal Government.
The Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Health Christopher Pyne said his visit to the Centre for Mental Health Research at ANU this month was timely.
“Mental illness is one of the most prevalent disabilities. It affects people in every family in every community.”
Staff at the centre briefed Mr Pyne on research areas including the growing problem of dementia among older people, community projects to combat depression and anxiety, and how aspects of the welfare system maintain social stigma around mental health sufferers.
The Adelaide-based MP made special mention of the Consumer Research Unit at the centre, and the online MoodGYM project designed to prevent depression and help people cope with early symptoms.
“ANU is doing things that nobody else is doing, such as MoodGYM, which is more than academe but actually practical outcomes for people, which is very impressive.
“The other thing that I was impressed about was the capacity to try and bring consumers into driving public policy, which is the first I’ve seen in Australia - actually asking consumers what they want from medical practitioners and government departments and politicians. I thought that was very interesting.
“There are certainly things that I would like to hear more about in the future, see what the assessments are for programs that we might be able to support.”
The Director of the Centre for Mental Health Research, Professor Helen Christensen, said Mr Pyne’s visit was important.
“It’s really important that parliamentarians see research at the coal face, but it’s also important for us to hear what they have to say. So it’s a valuable communication.
“This is the only real research institute in Australia that focuses on public health approaches to the understanding and prevention of mental health problems. We are actually looking for solutions that might make a difference.”
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