InsideOut cohosts Society for Mental Health Research Conference

In November, InsideOut proudly co-hosted the 2024 Society of Mental Health Research Conference in Sydney, partnering with the Matilda Centre and Black Dog Institute to produce a lively event which attracted hundreds of passionate mental health researchers eager to share the latest in innovative and inclusive research.

The importance of developing collaborative models of research and care led by First Nations people to provide culturally safe outcomes was the focus of the conference’s opening session - The First Nation’s Panel – led by Leilani Darwin, Matthew Trindall, Nicole Tuner and Tanya Hirvonen.

Later, InsideOut’s Director Professor Stephen Touyz, shared insights into novel treatments of eating disorders that address the inner core of the illness, Melissa Pehlivan shared results of her My Diet Study, Dr Kelly Dann presented findings of hospital to community care pathways and Dr Kristi Griffiths encouraged delegates to look outside the lens of specific illnesses and take into consideration co-morbidities when providing treatment. InsideOut’s Director Professor Sarah Maguire joined  Professor Sam Harvey and Maree Teesson AC, to share their biggest inspirations and challenges in innovative and inclusive research, with more collaboration and co-production consideration given a resounding nod.

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Highlights of day two included InsideOut’s Ashlea Hambleton presenting her real-world feasibility trial for Telehealth services, Sally Corry and Peta Marks showcasing the pilot study of our recently launched GP Hub and Sean Rom and Stephanie Boulet sharing a case study on eating disorders treatment pathways, highlighting the unaddressed need for intervention from the very beginning. We were also honoured to witness the launch of the The Lancet Commission on Self Harm calling on the need to provide better access to high-quality, compassionate services for support and treatment.

InsideOut's Dr Sarah Barakat opened day three with a presentation on digital innovation to treat eating disorders, and Bridget Mulvey received resounding applause as she highlighted the need to embed clinical supervision for nurses as routine practice.\
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Dr Jane Miskovic-Wheatley shared a rich data source of findings from 'livED' - our co-designed digital platform for those with a lived experience of eating disorders, and Emma Bryant wrapped up the team's conference presentations with a powerful message about how we cannot talk about mental health without talking about eating disorders and sharing data from the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing.

After three days of important conversations and insightful presentations, the overwhelming message that came out of the conference was that there is a genuine need for people with lived experience and a diverse cohort of experts to work together to codesign a way to achieve health system reform.

We congratulate Tim Slade for receiving the Founders Medal for his career researching the epidemiology of mental and substance abuse disorder.

We thank The Society for Mental Health Research (SMHR) and our co-hosts The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use and Black Dog Institute for a brilliant conference.