Infant mental health in country WA receives Telethon boost
Rochelle Matacz - Executive Director Pregnancy to Parenthood, Dr Hayden Wilson - Director of Psychiatry – Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Melissa Vernon -Executive Director Strategy and Change.
WA Country Health Service clinicians are set to undertake specialist infant mental health training, with the proud support of Telethon.
As announced at Telethon’s Giving Ceremony event, 15 clinicians from the Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (ICAMHS) are set to participate in a Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Training Program thanks to funding from Telethon.
Executive Director of Mental Health, Paula Chatfield, said the training is designed to upskill staff in what is considered a highly important field across regional and rural WA.
“The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Training Program will further build our capacity to provide targeted and specialist care to local families across all regions, while meeting the intentions of the Infant, Child and Adolescent Taskforce recommendations,” she said.
“Through a mix of face-to-face training and online supervision, the training covers recognising early signs of mental health distress in infants and provides the skills to deliver targeted interventions.
“We’re very thankful to Telethon for this grant and look forward to seeing the benefits to country West Australian children and their families.”
Infant mental health refers to children under the age of four’s ability to regulate and express emotions, form close and secure relationships, and explore their environments.
Dr Hayden Wilson, Director of Psychiatry – Infant, Child and Adolescent, said infants and young children frequently experience difficulties in communicating their needs in a way that their caregivers can understand and then respond appropriately.
“To overcome these issues, a focus on strengthening an infant and child’s development and wellbeing through secure and stable parent/carer to child relationships is required,” he said.
“Infant mental health care has emerged as an evidence-based specialist area within mental health studies and practice, so it’s very pleasing to be in a position to equip our clinicians with the tools required to deliver life changing care to our youngest and most vulnerable people in our country communities.”
WA Country Health Service thanks all West Australians who donated to Telethon in 2024 and looks forward to this year’s Telethon Weekend in October.