Australian Rotary Health

Laura Hart

University of Melbourne, VIC
Ian Scott PhD Scholarship
Mental Health 2009

Laura Hart is a PhD student with Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, University of Melbourne.   In 2005 Laura completed a BSc/BA double degree at the University of Melbourne majoring in psychology and history. In 2006 she completed her honours degree in the cognitive neuropsychology laboratory.

In 2007 Laura changed fields and began working as a Research Assistant with Orygen Youth Health Research Centre. Her work focused on developing culturally appropriate first aid guidelines for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. She has also been involved in other projects, including the evaluation of the Aboriginal Mental Health First Aid training program. Laura is a qualified Mental Health First Aid Instructor and gymnastics coach. She has a keen interest in the areas of mental health literacy, public health education and eating disorders.

SUMMARY OF PROJECT:

Mental health first aid for eating disorders: development of first aid guidelines and an intervention for the public

Mental health first aid (MHFA) is the help provided to a person who is in a mental health crisis or who is developing a mental health problem. First aid is given until appropriate professional treatment is received or the crisis is resolved.

This research project aims to create guidelines for providing first aid to people who are developing or experiencing an eating disorder. A training program will be devised to teach adults who are in contact with young people at risk of developing an eating disorder, how to provide first aid for eating disorders.

The research will involve three phases:

1. Development of a guideline document
To develop guidelines for eating disorder first aid, a Delphi consensus study will be carried out with eating disorder clinicians, care-givers and consumer experts. These expert participants will rate first aid action statements, gleaned from a systematic literature search, in accordance with how important they are in establishing best practice techniques for assisting someone who is developing or experiencing an eating disorder.

2. Development of a mental health first aid training package for eating disorders
To implement the guidelines for eating disorder first aid, a MHFA training module will be produced.  The module will:

     ♦  be based on the consensus information in the guidelines
     ♦  be informed by adult education principles and
     ♦  follow the successful MHFA training and research program model.  The MHFA model applies the conventional first aid strategy (Danger Response Airway Breathing Circulation (DRABC) to mental illness by using the ALGEE acronym (Assess the risk of harm to person or others, Listen non-judgmentally, Give reassurance and information, Encourage the person to get appropriate professional help if needed, Encourage self-help strategies). The development of the training package will involve an expert working group and pilot evaluations.

3. Evaluation of training
To evaluate the effectiveness of the guidelines-based training package, the module will be presented to a group of adults who are in contact with young people at risk of developing eating  disorders.
 
The evaluation of the training will involve measuring:

     ♦  knowledge and beliefs about eating disorders and their treatment
     ♦  willingness to assist someone with an eating disorder
     ♦  stigmatising attitudes towards those with eating disorders and
     ♦  experience in helping someone who is suspected to be developing an eating disorder.

Measurements will be taken before, immediately after and six months after the training is delivered.

This research is expected to benefit the public by increasing mental health literacy and positive help-seeking behaviours for people affected by eating disorders, thereby decreasing some of the social and economic cost these mental illnesses place on our community.

FINAL REPORT

Mental Health First Aid, a program that details what to do in a mental health related crisis, had previously included general intervention guidelines for what to do in a mental health related crisis, but did not yet have specific instruction for how to approach an eating disorder, despite illnesses such as anorexia being one of the most prominent mental disorders in the world.