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$2.5 million for mental health research

The Commonwealth Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Kay Patterson, today announced that a team of mental health researchers, headed by Associate Professor David Kavanagh, from the University of Queensland, will receive $2.5 million under the Health Research Partnership grants initiative.

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22 August 2002

$2.5 million for mental health research

The Commonwealth Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Kay Patterson, today announced that a team of mental health researchers, headed by Associate Professor David Kavanagh, from the University of Queensland, will receive $2.5 million under the Health Research Partnership grants initiative.

The announcement was made following recommendations from Australia's peak provider of public health advice and the nation's leading funder of medical research - the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Following extensive peer-review, the Health Research Partnerships Mental Health Committee recommended the funding for the project entitled: Evaluation of an integrated strategy to promote the health of people with chronic or recurring mental disorders.

Senator Patterson said the project team also included researchers from the University of Wollongong in NSW, La Trobe Regional Hospital in Victoria and the Forensic Mental Health Services in the Northern Territory.

"The project will apply evidence-based health promotion strategies in a sustainable fashion to people with chronic or recurring mental disorders in an attempt to improve mental health status, reduce physical risks, and promote social functioning," Senator Patterson said.

"The project will also assess the maintenance of changes in communities and in the practices of health practitioners, consumers and carers.

"Chronic or recurring mental disorders continue to have a substantial impact on early mortality, morbidity, and associated burden and financial cost in Australia, and is especially seen in Indigenous populations.

"Access to best practice in chronic or recurring mental disorders care is variable, with people in remote areas and indigenous populations in those areas being particularly disadvantaged. This project addresses these issues through training and support for health care providers and carers, and by increasing access to active leisure and employment."

In 1999 the NHMRC initiated the Health Research Partnership grants as a dynamic support mechanism for funding research, harnessing both Federal Government and private sector resources, and facilitating the examination of complex health problems using multi-disciplinary research partnerships.

Media Contact: Marnie Gaffney (Minister's Office) 02 6277 7220
David Porter (NHMRC) 02 6289 9107