• Charles Sturt University researchers have received a grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for a world-first study to improve rural mental health outcomes
• It is the first international study using lived experience peers to help people with mental illness to navigate and access physical health services
• The research by the project team of 25 researchers from nine universities will be co-designed and led by people with lived experience as consumers of mental health services and their carers from rural communities

Researchers at Charles Sturt University have received a near-million dollar federal government grant to help people navigate and access mental and physical health services.

The research will be led by Professor in Management Russell Roberts (pictured, with Assistant Minister Emma McBride) in the Charles Sturt School of Business and National Director of Equally Well Australia, and the Manna Institute.

Professor Roberts said the project is a unique innovative collaboration between researchers from these organisations to improve mental health outcomes in rural communities.

“The experiences of accessing physical health care for people living with mental illness in rural areas across Australia will be under the spotlight in this world-first study funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant of $970,000 announced this week,” Professor Roberts said.

“The research will involve working with people with a lived experience of mental illness as consumers or carers, to support the existing rural mental health workforce to be trained as healthcare navigators.”

Research from Equally Well Australia showed people with mental illness frequently have difficulty accessing physical health care services. As a result of underdiagnoses and problems with accessing appropriate treatment, their life expectancy is reduced by 13 to 20 years.

The new study is the first national study using the lived experience peers to help people navigate and access mental and physical health services. The research will be co-designed and led by people with lived experience as consumers of mental health services and their carers from rural communities.

The funding will support the Equally Well mission of closing the life-expectancy gap for people living with mental illness through a targeted response to challenges faced by consumers in rural areas where access to health care services and a shortage of health care workers is a critical issue.

NSW Mental Health Commission Deputy Commissioner and project co-lead, Mr Tim Heffernan, said this work addresses a largely ignored area of research into the physical health of people living with mental illness and the supportive role of their informal caregivers.

“Physical Health Care Peer Navigators are a specialised Lived Experience (Peer) Workforce who use their own journey of mental and physical health issues, and recovery, to support other people who are also embarking on this journey,” Mr Heffernan said.

“It makes sense that people in rural and regional Australia will be able to choose someone with experience to help them navigate their way back to mental and physical health.”

New perspectives open up opportunities for rural health workforce

Equally Well National Director and lead researcher Professor Roberts said the unique challenges for health services operating in regional areas requires a different model of care than you might see in metropolitan areas.

“Workforce shortages and limited access to targeted services is increasing the risk of people living with mental illness in rural areas dying prematurely from preventable physical health conditions,” Professor Roberts said.

“As a result, people with mental illness in rural communities have three times the risk of premature death compared to people living in capital cities.

“This important project will develop a new model of care that aims to improve service delivery, and train peer workers to build a new workforce that improves capacity to deliver mental and physical health services in rural areas into the future.

“As an added bonus, this initiative will support and take some pressure off our already stretched mental health workforce in rural communities.”

Deputy Director of the Manna Institute Associate Professor Christian Swann said this project is a great opportunity to improve research and impact in regional communities.

“This is a flagship project of the Manna Institute, which brings together researchers across seven universities in the Regional Universities Network, with industry partners, to build place-based research capacity to improve mental health in regional, rural and remote communities.

“This type of project aligns perfectly with Manna’s values and mission, as a collaborative project co-designed with and led by people with lived experience, to address the rural health workforce shortage,” Professor Swann said.

The facts about mental and physical health in rural Australia:

• Rural Australians with mental illness have almost three times the risk of premature death of the rest of the population (Roberts, Lockett et al. 2018).

• Higher rates of death can be attributed to rural health workforce shortages, lack of service access and poorer health outcomes generally for those living in rural communities (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2016, Roberts and Maylea 2019; Rosenberg and Roberts 2020; Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2014).

The poor physical health and reduced life expectancy of people living with mental illness is a well-recognised issue in Australia and internationally. It is a priority of the Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan, a key recommendation of the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Mental Health and an action of the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement.