Youth Mental Health

The aim of our team is to better understand mental health issues in young people and ensure that the best possible treatments are provided for those that experience poor mental health.

Our values:

• Quality research and innovation - We value rigorous scientific methodology, whilst embracing novel ways of working, new strategies and opportunities.
• Diversity – We acknowledge, embrace and advocate for the diversity and specific needs of young people, accepting young people as they are.
• Lived experience - We value the lived experiences of young people, families, and the community and use these views to inform our work.
• Translation - We aim to translate our research into the real world efficiently and effectively to make a meaningful and positive impact in young people’s lives as soon as possible.
• Collaboration - We work with other local, national and global research and community partners to ensure we are developing and implementing gold standard research in youth mental health.
• Empowerment – We ensure that young people are integral to the initiation and development of research priorities and projects, and that they are empowered as partners in the research process.

Strategic goals:

• We will develop, evaluate & implement novel interventions for and with young people
  We recognise the limitations of existing mental health interventions for young people and will think outside the box to develop new and more effective strategies to improve mental health and reduce suicide in this population. We will look to existing models and methods outside of our field to inspire and innovate.
  
  
• We will expand our research focus on vulnerable young people
  We know that some young people are at high risk of developing mental health difficulties. We will better understand the needs of these vulnerable groups and work in partnership with them to develop targeted, effective and acceptable interventions that address their specific needs.
  
  
• We will increase access to high quality, targeted mental health prevention and intervention programs for all young people
  Young people have needs that are distinct from both children and adults, however, these needs are not always met by current service delivery models. Often the most vulnerable young people experience the poorest access to intervention. We will understand the gaps in service provision, and actively seek to address them through our research. We will use digital technology, stakeholder consultation and collaboration to reduce the research-to-practice gap and streamline translation of our research into clinical practice and the community.
  
  
• We will build youth mental health research capacity in WA
  We will recruit the best and brightest staff and students at all levels. We will grow their capacity to become skilled, ethical and compassionate independent researchers. We will invest in team culture to attract and retain the best people possible.

Team Highlights

• Team members have recently received a number of prestigious awards, including Stan and Jean Perron Award for Excellence (Penelope Strauss), Friends of the Institute Travel Award, Telethon Kids Institute (Penelope Strauss), Raine Medical Foundation PhD Top Up Scholarship (Simone Mahfouda), Louisa Alessandri Memorial Fund Scientific Publication Prize (Simone Mahfouda), the Perth Children’s Hospital Fund Top-up Scholarship (Simone Mahfouda), and Centre for Research Excellence in Suicide Prevention (CRESP) Early Career Researcher Best Research Paper Award (Yael Perry).
• Penelope Strauss has been elected Student Vice Co-Chair and Student Representative to the Board of Directors for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (to begin in 2019).
• Yael Perry is current WA Early Career representative for WA for the Society for Mental Health Research, and, in 2019, Ashleigh Lin will take up the role of WA representative.
• Trans Pathways was launched in September, 2017 and received wide media coverage, with an estimated to reach 8.4 million people. Since then, it has had an enormous impact. Trans Pathways has been cited in the United Nations Human Rights Council (2018) Report of the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, the Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for Trans and Gender Diverse Children and Adolescents (2017), and Western Australian Commissioner for Children and Young People’s Issue Paper: ‘Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex (LGBTI) children and young people’ (2017). The findings have been presented to numerous state and federal politicians across Australia. Over the past year, Penelope Strauss has been invited to give 29 presentations, presented the findings at 4 national and 2 international conferences, and given a national webinar.