Child and Adolescent Psychiatry International Relations (CAPIR): building bridges for psychiatry workforce capacity with Pacific Island nations.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the span of work of child and adolescent psychiatrists in Australia and New Zealand in recent years aimed at collaborative efforts to build mental health capacity in the Pacific Island nations of Fiji, Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. METHOD: Steps taken to coordinate resourcing, networking, delivery of appropriate initiatives, establishing and maintaining key relationships with partners are described. RESULTS: Engagement with Pacific nations mental health professionals, ministries of health, NGOs, universities, multilateral agencies and professional and international organisations has expanded and strengthened since 2013. CONCLUSIONS: Planned and staged implementation of initiatives can harness RANZCP (and its faculties and interest groups) goodwill to effectively contribute to psychiatry and mental health capacity building in partnerships with Pacific Island nations to address mental health needs over the life-span.

Pasifika Study Group: a child and adolescent mental health capacity building and leadership workshop with Pacific nations doctors and psychiatrists.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the Pasifika Study Group (PSG), a biennial workshop for Pacific nations psychiatrists and doctors working in psychiatry under the auspices of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. METHOD: Since 2013 the PSG has brought together doctors and other health professionals from eight Pacific nations for a two-day study group. RESULTS: On evaluation the PSG is considered informative and relevant and participants were generally confident of adapting the material to their own context. CONCLUSION: The PSG demonstrates a successful approach to regional engagement in mental health in the Pacific region.

Building capacity for child and adolescent mental health and psychiatry in Papua New Guinea.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the recent work of child psychiatrists in Australia, New Zealand (ANZ) and Papua New Guinea (PNG) adding to mental health capacity building across the life-span, starting with children and adolescents. METHOD: Concerns about treatment access and clinical training needs, combined with academic leadership and National Department of Health commitment, supported the collaborative involvement of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry (RANZCP) in workforce development. This has been initially established under the auspices of the Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (FCAP). RESULTS: Workforce development in child and adolescent mental health is underway, with sustainability, consolidation and scaling up of initiatives required to meet need. CONCLUSIONS: Expanding mental health workforce capacity in partnership with the National Department of Health and the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) seems feasible. Ongoing cooperation is required to realize the potential of such collaborative initiatives.

Study of depression and anxiety in prenatal and postnatal women at Port Moresby General Hospital.

Papua New Guinea, a country of diverse languages, culture and customs, is undergoing rapid developmental changes in its environment and society. These changes can lead to the development of medical problems both physical and mental. This preliminary descriptive study of depression in 50 prenatal and 50 postnatal women using the Harding Self Report Questionnaire and mental status examination was conducted at Port Moresby General Hospital. The study found 20% of depression in the prenatal women and 30% in the postnatal women immediately postpartum. Anxiety was present in 6% of prenatal women and in 4% of postnatal women. 14% of the women interviewed had experienced physical abuse in the month before the interview.

What do final year medical students at the University of Papua New Guinea think of psychiatry?

This study was conducted in 2004 to determine whether there was any difference between final year medical students who had rotated in psychiatry and those who had not, in terms of their preference for psychiatry as a career and their attitudes towards mental illness. A self-rated questionnaire was given to all the final year medical students at the University of Papua New Guinea. The results showed that the medical students in general had a negative attitude towards psychiatry as a career option and, although they were accepting of the mentally ill in a professional setting as colleagues or patients, they had a negative attitude towards close social contact with them as neighbours or as in-laws. Several students believed mental illness could be caused by sorcery or by spending much time with the mentally ill. Most students believed mental illness could be treated by prayer, one in five believed in the effectiveness of traditional healers and one in five did not believe modern medicine could treat mental illness. Apart from a reduction in stigma and in prejudice against a mentally ill neighbour, there was no significant difference in attitude between students who had rotated in psychiatry and those who had not. There was no significant difference in attitude between male and female respondents. There were, however, significant differences in attitude between students who had a positive family history of mental illness and those who did not. It was concluded that psychiatry was an unpopular choice for specialization and that students' attitudes towards mental illness were influenced more by their cultural beliefs and their family history of mental illness than by their rotation in psychiatry. These external variables that are independent of their medical training need to be considered during undergraduate medical training in order to optimize the provision of health care to the mentally ill in Papua New Guinea.