Australian Rotary Health

Professor Philip Hazell is Area Director of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services for the Sydney South West Area Health Service, Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry with the Thomas Walker Hospital (Rivendell) and Associated Services. He holds conjoint academic appointments with the University of Sydney and the University of Newcastle.
 

Professor Hazell’s research output spans youth suicide, disruptive behaviour disorders of childhood and adolescence, mood disorders, systematic review of treatment effectiveness, psychological sequelae of disaster, and the evaluation of medical education.  He was in 2004 honoured by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry with the Elaine Schlosser Lewis Award for Research in Attention Deficit Disorder. The research was supported by Australian Rotary Health. In 2004 he was also joint winner of the Hunter Children’s Research Foundation Award for Research Excellence, and in 2005 was named Research Mentor of the Year by the same organisation.
 

Bipolar disorder, one of the most serious and debilitating of psychiatric illnesses, costs Australia $1.59 billion a year.
 

The World Health Organisation ranks bipolar disorder as the 6th most debilitating disorder in the world. The illness affects 1% of children and adolescents and most sufferers report symptoms starting in childhood or adolescence.
 

Juvenile bipolar disorder is poorly recognised with long delays in receiving adequate treatment. Untreated juvenile bipolar disorder is associated with self-harm, family break down, substance and alcohol abuse, and loss of education.
 

Prof Philip Hazell’s research will evaluate client outcomes from The Bipolar Program; a unit of the Hunter New England Area Mental Health Service that provides intensive mental health intervention for children and adolescents diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
 

Approximately 100 clients of The Bipolar Program, diagnosed with bipolar disorder and aged under 18 years at admission to the service, will participate. They will have received:

   ♦  a combination of medications
   ♦  cognitive behavioural therapy and
   ♦  intensive mental health case management, depending on their needs and circumstances.
 

Clients will be assessed using a structured interview and The Bipolar Program’s standard collection of self-report questionnaires. Treatment outcomes will be evaluated by comparing assessment data with data collected at admission to the service.
 

Clients, their parents/carers will be surveyed regarding satisfaction with the service and suggestions for improvement. This project will also evaluate the maintenance of any gains made in therapy over a longer time period.