Ms Caitlin Wilson1, Ms Carmen Morrison, Mrs Karen Salter, Mrs Margaret Dietz
1Monash Health, Australia
Biography:
Caitlin has been working as an Accredited Practicing Dietitian since 2010 across community, acute and more recently mental health. In 2016, she moved into mental health working predominately with adults with eating disorders. In 2023 she joined Monash Health's interdisciplinary allied health program to support graduate dietitians wishing to work in mental health.
Abstract:
Background:
In 2022, the Victorian Government’s Department of Health funding supported a 12-month structured Allied Health Mental Health Graduate Program for social work and occupational therapy. In 2023 this program expanded to include speech pathology, exercise physiology, dietetics, art and music therapy. This granted consumers’ access to a greater range of evidence-based interventions.
There is a paucity of literature exploring Allied Health Graduate-to-practitioner transition in mental health settings. Learnings made through the development and implementation of an expanded Allied Health Mental Health graduate program showed the impact of this program on mental health teams and consumers. It will also provide insight to inform strategy relating to acceptability, sustainability and future direction of the graduate program.
Method:
Using a convergent mixed-methods parallel research design, the researchers collected quantitative and qualitative data through surveys and qualitative focus groups, from de-identified voluntary participants of the Allied health Mental Health program, which includes allied health graduates, their clinical supervisors and unit managers. These findings were used to compare and interrelate results.
Findings:
Importantly, the allied health graduate program has supported capacity building within these professions for recruitment and retention in mental health care. It has also improved job satisfaction, reduced isolation and increased the skillset of clinical supervisors. Challenges identified included non-allied health management structures and an over-representation of generic roles in mental health. New graduate roles have supported the expansion of clinical services providing consumers, families and carers, colleagues and decision makers with the opportunity to benefit from multi-disciplinary interventions.