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promoting mental health for young Australians
Australian Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association Ltd
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AICAFMHA E-News in Brief Issue #5.01

News in Brief - Issue #5.01 (12/02/2005)

AICAFMHA News / What's On? / Mental Health News / Resources / Back to E-News index

AICAFMHA News

Welcome to the first issue of News In Brief for 2005. Here we are in mid-February already and the year seems to be flying by. Through this newsletter we'll endeavour to circulate news, events, activities and resource information relevant to the fields of infant, child and adolescent mental health. If you have suggestions for inclusions, information to add or comments on the e-letter, please feel free to contact Sue on (08) 8132 0786 or at secretary@aicafmha.net.au.

Currently, this e-letter has a circulation in excess of 2100 around Australia and the world. We encourage our subscribers to forward the e-letter on to their networks, however the simplest method of ensuring that the right people receive this information is to make sure they are subscribed. Readers can subscribe to this list by sending a message to news-request@www.aicafmha.net.au with "subscribe" in the message body or by emailing Sue at secretary@aicafmha.net.au requesting your email address be subscribed.

The National Youth Participation Strategy (NYPS) has progressed significantly during Dec/Jan with the draft models for youth participation now available for comment. We invite you to review the draft models and complete the online survey at http://www.aicafmha.net.au/youth_participation/consult/index.html. We also encourage you to circulate this invitation to other relevant worker and young people.

The National Children of Parents with a Mental Illness Initiative (COPMI Project) has a new update online. View at http://www.aicafmha.net.au/copmi/project/updates/index.htm.

What?s On?

24 February 2005
Involving Children in Social Policy: A Case Study from Northern Ireland,
presented by Dr Madeleine Leonard, School of Sociology and Social Policy, Queen's University, Belfast
For further informaiton, follow the link:
http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/seminars/seminars.html

NIFTeY and Ngala invite you to an afternoon with Dr Fraser Mustard
AN UPDATE ON BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND THE EARLY YEARS - IMPLICATIONS FOR PARENTS, CHILD CARERS AND EDUCATORS
Information about brain development and the early years of life is expanding and provides clearer guidelines for approaches that best help the developmental well being of children.
Dr Mustard will address:
. The application of brain development knowledge to literacy and numeracy
. The evaluation of programs and approaches that inform us on what parents, other carers and educators can do to enhance children's developmental wellbeing
West Australian initiatives for the Early Years will be presented, with a Panel discussion exploring future directions.
Tuesday 15th March 2005, 1.30 - 5pm (Registration 1 pm)
Burswood Convention Centre, Cost: $55.00 (Inclusive of GST)
For details call Impact Communications on (08) 9227 0233 or view flyer/registration form.

Preliminary Notice
2005 General Practice & Primary Health Care Research Conference
26th - 28th July 2005, Adelaide Convention Centre, South Australia
You are invited to attend this national conference which has become the key annual event for anyone with an interest in primary health care research, development and evaluation. Renowned international keynote speakers at the conference will be Professor Jonathan Lomas (Canada) and Professor Michael Quinn Patton (USA).
Call for abstracts and registration details will be distributed from mid-January 2005.
Further details about the conference will be made available as soon as they are confirmed. If you have any queries or wish to be added to the conference mailing list please contact:
Conference Logistics
Phone: 02 6281 6624, Fax: 02 6285 1336
Email: conference@conlog.com.au
Please visit the conference website at www.phcris.org.au

AAIMH 2005 Conference - Call for Abstracts
The Australian Association for Infant Mental Health is currently calling for oral and poster abstracts for its 2005 National Conference.
Abstracts of no more than 500 words are required by 25 February 2005.
The conference will be held from 7 - 9 July 2005 at QUT Gardens Point Campus, Brisbane. This year's theme, Before the Bough Breaks - Working with infants, families and communities has developed from the desire to bring local, nation and international participants together to think about opportunities for working within a prevention and early intervention framework across diverse systems, while keeping infants and their families in mind.
For further information regarding the conference or call for abstracts, email aaimh2005@qut.edu.au or phone the conference secretariat on 07 3864 2915.

25th International Montessori Congress to be held in Darling Harbour in Sydney, 14-17 July 2005. Theme: Champion the Cause of All Children
Details at http://aaaa.net.au/congress

Sixth Child and Family Policy Conference
Children and Young People as Citizens: Participation, Provision & Protection
7-9th July 2005 Dunedin, New Zealand
Call for Papers - Due 18th February 2005
ConferenceThemes
- Culture, Ethnicity, New Immigrants - Families/Whanau - Communities - Services: Government, NGOs, Industry - Health - Environment - Education - Employment - Law - Early Intervention - Social Work - Other View PDF of flyer.

Mental Health News

The South Australian National Investment for the Early Years committee (NIFTEY (SA)) is seeking nominations for the 2005 awards.
The 2005 awards nomination brochure and further information is available on the website. Please circulate to other organisations
http://niftey.cyh.com/webpages/stategroups/sa/saframe.htm

From Mental Health in the Headlines:
Babies born to mothers who took SSRI antidepressant medications while pregnant may be born with withdraw symptoms, a study published last week in The Lancet indicates. Spanish researchers found that these withdrawal symptoms were particularly evident in babies whose mothers took paroxetine, which is marketed as Paxil in the United States, but also with other drugs in the same class as well. (Dow Jones Newswires, 2/3/05) The researchers recommend that physicians weigh the effects of expectant mothers' untreated depression on their fetuses against the "mild and transitory" effects of antidepressants on their babies.
(The New York Times, 2/4/05)

The British Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency issued advice to physicians to look for possible, but rare, liver reactions in children who take Eli Lilly and Company's ADHD treatment, Strattera. The agency found that 1 in 50,000 children may have such a reaction, and advised doctors to find other treatments if they suspect a problem.
(Dow Jones Newswires, 2/3/05)

The number of prescriptions for antidepressant medication written for children and teens in 2004 fell 10 percent last year, following several years of increases in such prescriptions. The decrease is attributed to the debate about whether such drugs trigger suicidal behavior in young people, according to pharmaceutical benefit company Medco Health Solutions Inc. The fall in prescriptions was particularly notable during the second half of 2004, coinciding with the FDA's requirement that drug manufacturers place a "black label" on the medicines to warn of the possibility of suicidal behavior. David Fassler, M.D., chair of a coalition of organizations that unveiled a Web site last week that gives parents advice on drugs and depression treatment, noted that as a result of FDA's warning, "many children are losing access to effective and appropriate treatment."
(The Wall Street Journal, 2/2/05)

AeJAMH - The Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health - Volume 3, Issue 3 is now online at
www.auseinet.com/journal/vol3iss3/index.php
Special Guest Editor:
Dr Tracy Westerman - Indigenous Psychological Services, Perth, Western Australia

**All aBoard! available in hard-copy**
All aBoard! - a guide to helping organisations involve children and young people on boards and committees - is now available in hard-copy format. All aBoard! has lots of information, tips and practical ideas about things like recruitment, supporting young people, making meetings fun and lots more. Follow the link below to find out more about All aBoard!
http://www.kids.nsw.gov.au/publications/tps_allaboard.html

Resources

In response to the devastation brought by the recent tsunami in South Asia, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) would like to share with you, members of the:
Australian Infant-Child-Adolescent-Family-Mental-Health Association,
Swedish Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry (ACPP),
and Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
its Disaster Response Page at
http://www.aacap.org/publications/DisasterResponse/index.htm
Included is our Facts for Families:
# No. 36 "Helping Children After a Disaster"
# No. 67 "Children and the News"
# No. 8 "Children and Grief"
# No. 70 "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder"
Also listed are links to additional organizations that provide different and effective tools for disaster response.
Our thoughts and prayers are with those of you who have been directly impacted by the catastrophe.
www.aacap.org

The FOCUS website has recently undergone some changes and now includes:
- Directories area listing eating problems & disorders services, and inpatient services.
http://www.focusproject.org.uk

From ABC Health Updates:
PREGNANCY AND SCHIZOPHRENIA (Health Minutes: 03/02/2005)
Researchers in Western Australia followed women with mental illnesses through pregnancy and compared them to pregnant women without mental illness to see what happens during pregnancy and how that may influence the chances of their children developing schizophrenia.
http://www.abc.net.au/health/minutes/stories/s1295208.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/helthrpt/stories/s1290307.htm

"What's Happening & Who Knows? - Educational Settings and Young People Who Self-harm".
This report reveals that both education professionals and young people would like specific information and advice about self-harm, to be provided in all schools across the UK.
Currently, government strategies promoting better health and emotional well-being for young people in schools do not include self-harm. The Inquiry has learnt that young people want self-harm to be discussed within schools, to help dispel the fears and misunderstandings that surround the behaviour.
Self-harm is still a taboo subject. Consequently young people who self-harm often keep it hidden and do not seek help, fearing the reactions they may encounter.
The full report is available now to download for free from www.selfharmUK.org.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has issued a response to the Tsunami Earthquake disaster
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/index.htm

This is to advise that the Mental Health Privacy Coalition (MHPC), a coalition of the Australian Medical Association, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, the Australian Private Hospitals Association and the Mental Health Council of Australia has drafted the Submission on the Review of the Private Sector Provisions of the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988. The submission may be viewed at
http://www.spgpps.com.au/documents/spgpps/submissions/
previous_years/MHPC_Submission2004.pdf

GREETINGS FROM PORTLAND, OREGON!
Welcome to rtcUpdates for January 2005.
rtcUpdates are brought to you by the Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health in Portland, Oregon. Subscribers to rtcUpdates receive occasional email messages from the RTC containing information about the RTC's recent research, publications, and other activities, as well as information about developments in the field of Children's Mental Health.
CONTENTS OF THIS UPDATE:
**PORTLAND FAMILY STRENGTHS CONFERENCE-Invitation to Present or Attend
**FEATURED DISCUSSION-Defining Family-Driven Care
**NATIONAL WRAPAROUND INITIATIVE-New Products
**WRITE FOR FOCAL POINT-Propose an Article Related to "Recovery & Resilience"
**RTC PUBLICATIONS & PRODUCTS-Recently Produced
**DATA TRENDS-Recent Research Summaries
**FROM THE WEB-Online Information and Sites of Interest
View online.
Lots of good information in here: parenting teenagers, copmi, policy and evidence base, juvenile offenders etc.

Infant Toddler Mental Health Coalition of Arizona:
ITMHCA is a voluntary organization that was established in 1995. The vision that guides the organization is that "Every child will have an environment which promotes optimum physical, mental and emotional growth and development". Its mission is: "The promotion of optimum mental health as a component of all family services from trained and qualified practitioners in community based settings".
http://www.itmhca.org/index.html

Study on the Impact of the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
The UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre (IRC), Florence, Italy
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) 2004
Summary available online as PDF file [30p.] at:
http://www.unicef-icdc.org/publications/pdf/CRC_Impact_summaryreport.pdf
".....2004 marks the fifteenth anniversary of the adoption and subsequent ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The CRC is currently closer to being universally accepted than any other international human rights treaty. The CRC is also unique in that it so fully embodies civil, economic, political, social and cultural rights.
Critical questions: is the impact of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) real or rhetorical? How has it been implemented? Ultimately, what has been the effect of the CRC on the daily lives of children? How far has the enjoyment of their human rights been advanced? What has been its effect in terms of generating social change?
The study celebrates the achievements that have taken place since the adoption of the CRC, in regions the world over. At the same time, it is a study that acknowledges the many challenges that remain, in implementing a treaty with such a broad scope."