Adjusting tertiary mental health education during Covid-19: an Australian experience.

Globally, tertiary education has been greatly affected by the Covid-19 crisis. In this essay we explore the impact of the pandemic on this educational sector in an Australian setting; specifically, we discuss how the Research School of Population Health at the Australian National University adjusted and adapted to the changing circumstances arising from the pandemic. In this respect, two adjustments (both described in detail in the text) in the way mental health education was delivered at the School were proposed to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 and enhance the university's capacity to provide quality public health education to students. Thus, this essay shows that it is possible to design educational interventions that surmount the challenges posed by the pandemic. In addition, educators may use the examples cited in this paper to guide them to respond appropriately to the challenges that have arisen in terms of health education due to Covid-19.

A Mental Wealth perspective: crossing disciplines to understand the value of collective mental and social assets in the post-COVID-19 era.

BACKGROUND: A reconceptualised global strategy is key as nations begin to shift from crisis management to medium- and long-term planning to rebuild and strengthen their economic, social and public health systems. Efforts towards measuring, modelling, and forecasting Mental Wealth could serve as the catalyst for this reconceptualization. The Mental Wealth approach builds systemic resilience through investments which promote collective cognitive and emotional wellbeing. This paper presents the theoretical foundations for Mental Wealth. It presents, for the first time, literature across the disciplines of health and social sciences, economics, business, and humanities to underpin the development of an operational metric of Mental Wealth. DISCUSSION: An approach which embeds social and psychological dimensions of prosperity, alongside the economic, is needed to inform the effective allocation of investments in the post-pandemic world. The authors advocate for a transdisciplinary framework of Mental Wealth to be applied in innovating population-level policy interventions to address the growing challenges brought on by COVID-19. Mental Wealth highlights the value generated by the deployment of collective mental assets and supporting social infrastructure. In order to inform this position, a review of the literature on the concepts underpinning Mental Wealth is presented, limitations of current measurement tools of mental and social resources are evaluated, and a framework for development of a Mental Wealth metric is proposed. CONCLUSION: There are challenges in developing an operational Mental Wealth metric. The breadth of conceptual foundations to be considered is extensive, and there may be a lack of agreement on the appropriate tools for its measurement. While variability across current measurement approaches in social resources, wellbeing and mental assets contributes to the difficulty creating a holistic and generic metric, these variations are now clearer. The operationalisation of the Mental Wealth metric will require comprehensive mapping of the elements to be included against the data available.

Measuring, Modeling, and Forecasting the Mental Wealth of Nations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the deep links and fragility of economic, health and social systems. Discussions of reconstruction include renewed interest in moving beyond GDP and recognizing "human capital", "brain capital", "mental capital", and "wellbeing" as assets fundamental to economic reimagining, productivity, and prosperity. This paper describes how the conceptualization of Mental Wealth provides an important framing for measuring and shaping social and economic renewal to underpin healthy, productive, resilient, and thriving communities. We propose a transdisciplinary application of systems modeling to forecast a nation's Mental Wealth and understand the extent to which policy-mediated changes in economic, social, and health sectors could enhance collective mental health and wellbeing, social cohesion, and national prosperity. Specifically, simulation will allow comparison of the projected impacts of a range of cross-sector strategies (education sector, mental health system, labor market, and macroeconomic reforms) on GDP and national Mental Wealth, and provide decision support capability for future investments and actions to foster Mental Wealth. Finally, this paper introduces the Mental Wealth Initiative that is harnessing complex systems science to examine the interrelationships between social, commercial, and structural determinants of mental health and wellbeing, and working to empirically challenge the notion that fostering universal social prosperity is at odds with economic and commercial interests.

Measuring, Modeling, and Forecasting the Mental Wealth of Nations

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the deep links and fragility of economic, health and social systems. Discussions of reconstruction include renewed interest in moving beyond GDP and recognizing “human capital”, “brain capital”, “mental capital”, and “wellbeing” as assets fundamental to economic reimagining, productivity, and prosperity. This paper describes how the conceptualization of Mental Wealth provides an important framing for measuring and shaping social and economic renewal to underpin healthy, productive, resilient, and thriving communities. We propose a transdisciplinary application of systems modeling to forecast a nation's Mental Wealth and understand the extent to which policy-mediated changes in economic, social, and health sectors could enhance collective mental health and wellbeing, social cohesion, and national prosperity. Specifically, simulation will allow comparison of the projected impacts of a range of cross-sector strategies (education sector, mental health system, labor market, and macroeconomic reforms) on GDP and national Mental Wealth, and provide decision support capability for future investments and actions to foster Mental Wealth. Finally, this paper introduces the Mental Wealth Initiative that is harnessing complex systems science to examine the interrelationships between social, commercial, and structural determinants of mental health and wellbeing, and working to empirically challenge the notion that fostering universal social prosperity is at odds with economic and commercial interests.

Fit for Purpose-Re-Designing Australia's Mental Health Information System.

BACKGROUND: Monitoring and reporting mental health is complex. Australia's first National Mental Health Strategy in 1992 included a new national commitment to accountability and data collection in mental health. This article provides a narrative review of thirty years of experience. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This review considers key documents, policies, plans and strategies in relation to the evolution of mental health data and reporting. Documents produced by the Federal and the eight state and territory governments are considered, as well as publications produced by key information agencies, statutory authorities and others. A review of this literature demonstrates both its abundance and limitations. RESULTS: Australia's approach to mental health reporting is characterised by duplication and a lack of clarity. The data available fail to do justice to the mental health services provided in Australia. Mental health data collection and reporting processes are centrally driven, top-down and activity-focused, largely eschewing actual health outcomes, the social determinants of mental health. There is little, if any, link to clearly identifiable service user or carer priorities. Consequently, it is difficult to link this process longitudinally to clinical or systemic quality improvement. Initial links between the focus of national reform efforts and mental health data collection were evident, but these links have weakened over time. Changes to governance and reporting, including under COVID, have made the task of delivering accountability for mental health more difficult. CONCLUSION: Australia's current approach is not fit for purpose. It is at a pivotal point in mental health reform, with new capacity to use modelled data to simulate prospective mental health reform options. By drawing on these new techniques and learning the lessons of the past, Australia (and other nations) can design and implement more effective systems of planning, reporting and accountability for mental health.

Rapid response to crisis: Health system lessons from the active period of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: This paper outlines the need for a health systems approach and rapid response strategy for gathering information necessary for policy decisions during pandemics and similar crises. It suggests a new framework for assessing the phases of the pandemic. METHOD: The paper draws its information and conclusions from a rapid synthesis and translation process (RSTP) of a series of webinars and online discussions from the Pandemic-Mental Health International Network (Pan-MHIN) - policy experts from across 16 locations in Australia, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Taiwan, the UK and the USA. While the initial focus of this research was on mental health, COVID-19 has raised much broader issues and questions for health planners. RESULTS: We identified gaps affecting the capacity to respond effectively and quickly, including in relation to system indicators, the inadequacy of the prior classification of the phases of the pandemic, the absences of a healthcare ecosystem approach, and the quick shift to digital technologies. The strengths and weaknesses of COVID-19 responses across different systems, services, sites and countries been identified and compared, including both low and high impacted areas. CONCLUSIONS: There is an urgent need for managerial epidemiology based on healthcare ecosystem research encompassing multidisciplinary teams, visualization tools and decision analytics for rapid response. Policy and healthcare context played a key role in the response to COVID-19. Its severity, the containment measures and the societal response varied greatly across sites and countries. Understanding this variation is vital to assess the impact of COVID-19 in specific areas such as ageing or mental health.

International experiences of the active period of COVID-19 - Mental health care.

AIM: To summarise commonalities and variations in the mental health response to COVID-19 across different sites and countries, with a view to better understanding key steps not only in crisis management, but for future systemic reform of mental health care. METHOD: We conducted a Rapid Synthesis and Translation Process of lessons learned from an international panel of experts, collecting on the ground experiences of the pandemic as it evolved in real time. Digital conferencing and individual interviews were used to rapidly acquire knowledge on the COVID-19 outbreak across 16 locations in Australia, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Taiwan, the UK, and the USA. RESULTS: COVID-19 has had massive impacts on mental health care internationally. Most systems were under-resourced and under-prepared, struggling to manage both existing and new clients. There were significant differences between sites, depending on the explosivity the pandemic and the readiness of the mental health system. Integrated, community mental health systems exhibited greater adaptability in contrast to services which depended on face-to-face and hospital-based care. COVID-19 has demonstrated the need for a new approach to rapid response to crisis in mental health. New decision support system tools are necessary to ensure local decision-makers can effectively respond to the enormous practical challenges posed in these circumstances. CONCLUSIONS: The process we have undertaken has generated clear lessons for mental health policymakers worldwide, beyond pandemic planning and response to guide next steps in systemic mental health reform. Key here is achieving some balance between national leadership and local context adaptation of evidence.