28 September 2023
The inaugural meeting of the Health Translation Queensland (HTQ) Mental Health Collaborative Group sparked new connections and confirmed the group’s passionate commitment to supporting mental health professionals in translational research and, ultimately, better outcomes for Queenslanders experiencing mental health challenges.
The first of HTQ’s strategic pillars is making the work of translational research easier, which includes promoting and facilitating collaboration across disciplines and institutions.
As mental health was the top of the 9 priority areas identified in HTQ’s Health Research Needs Assessment released earlier this year, the HTQ team prioritised bringing together mental health professionals.
The Mental Health Collaborative Group is the newest of HTQ’s collaborative groups aiming to address systemic challenges across the health and medical research sector. The group includes 19 representatives (listed below) from HTQ partner organisations and non-partner organisations, with representation from across the mental health sector.
The Mental Health Collaborative Group met for the first time in September 2023 to build relationships, leverage their expansive networks and kick off their first collaborative project – the HTQ-led Queensland Mental Health Collaborative Hub (described below).
HTQ project lead Sarah Scott said it was evident at the meeting that mental health was an important topic for all group members.
“The first meeting buzzed with bold ideas and robust discussion about what this collaborative group could be and how our first project could best serve our mental health workforce,” Ms Scott said.
“During the meeting, we workshopped 4 themes – education and training, research, blue sky thinking and barriers.
“Group members shared valuable insights about the need for greater connection across Queensland, increased awareness about the resources available to clinician-researchers and how to navigate potential career pathways in mental health.”
A thorough consultation period had informed HTQ that there is an abundance of consumer and primary care focused platforms in mental health, but not a central Queensland hub for mental health training, education and research for mental health professionals.
So, the first agreed outcome for the group is to define what Queensland mental health professionals, practitioners and researchers need most when it comes to mental health resources, training and education and provide input into the design of the Queensland Mental Health Collaborative Hub.
This online hub will provide curated content, resources and collaboration tools for mental health practitioners, professionals and researchers. Over the coming year, the group will work with a digital agency to develop the hub.
For further information about the HTQ Mental Health Collaborative Group, please contact Sarah Scott.
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Health Translation Queensland acknowledges the Traditional Owners and their custodianship of the lands on which we live, work, and play. We pay our respects to their Ancestors and their Descendants, who continue cultural and spiritual connections to Country. We recognise their valuable contributions to Australian and global society.
