Child Mental Health Community of Practice session 5: Assessment and management of mental health disorders in neurodiverse children and young people

The child mental health community of practice (CoP) is part of the Victorian Public Healthcare Award-winning ‘connecting mental health paediatric specialists and community services (COMPASS)' project. It is a multidisciplinary CoP for GPs, practice nurses, psychologists, paediatricians, mental health clinicians, social workers and counsellors.

The CoP improves the capacity of clinicians assessing and managing mental health problems in children and adolescents. Over 7 sessions, facilitated by local GP Dr Sahar Iqbal, participants will examine case studies presented by child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Chidambaram Prakash from the Royal Children’s Hospital. Each monthly session will focus on a topic of interest. Sessions will be held online using Zoom on Tuesday evenings, from 6:30pm to 8pm.

The topic for session 5 is assessment and management of mental health disorders in neurodiverse children and young people. 7.4 per cent of Australian children aged 4-17 years have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and approximately one per cent have autism. These children are highly vulnerable to experiencing trauma and have a higher incidence of mental health disorders than neurotypical children.  

This is the fourth time this successful CoP has been run. This series will include all new case studies.

1.5 EA RACGP continuing professional development (CPD) hours are available for attending GPs.  

Don't miss the other sessions in the series:

Session 6: Sep 17, 2024 6:30 PM – Gender diversity

Session 7: Oct 29, 2024 6:30 PM – PTSD/Complex PTSD

For any queries, please contact education@nwmphn.org.au

Speakers

Dr Chidambaram Prakash is a senior consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at the RCH. He has over 20 years’ experience. 

Prakash has worked in, and managed, general and specialist clinics within child psychiatry in metropolitan and regional public mental health services.  

Practising as a GP at Goonawarra Medical Centre for the past 10 years, Dr Sahar Iqbal's areas of interest are child and adolescent mental health and chronic disease management.

Guest Speaker

Dr Victoria McKay is an experienced Paediatrician who has worked extensively in the Australian public and private healthcare systems. She is the founder of Paediatric People, an innovative private paediatric practice founded on team care, and is one of the founding paediatricians at the Children's Health and Wellbeing Local at Monash Health, where she focuses on health service development. She has worked extensively in a co-consult role in the primary healthcare setting in the Strengthening Care for Children project. 

Victoria takes a strength-based, holistic approach to child health, grounded in science and evidence. She is skilled in caring for babies, children and young people, supporting their development as well as physical and mental health. She has a special interest in ADHD.

Victoria is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) and graduated with honours (MBBS (Hons)) from the University of Sydney. She qualified as a Paediatrician while working at Monash Children’s Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. 

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Confidently assess and identify mental health disorders in neurodiverse children and young people.
• Discuss the best practice management for mental health disorders in neurodiverse children and young people.
• Identify appropriate referral pathways in local region to support management of neurodiverse children and young people with mental health disorders.