Assessing and Enhancing Youth Mental Health in Primary Care

Designed for fully qualified or trainee general practitioners, social workers, paediatricians and fully qualified nurses working in private and public settings across Australia, this course will equip you with essential skills in providing best-practice mental health care to young people in the primary care setting.

Learners are expected to hold one of the following qualifications: a Nursing degree (or equivalent), a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree, a Bachelor or Master of Social Work or an MBBS (or an internationally recognised equivalent). In addition, nurses should be working in primary care, and medical practitioners should have either commenced or completed an accredited training program in general practice (family medicine or equivalent) or paediatrics.

Learning in Assessing and Enhancing Youth Mental Health in Primary Care is equivalent to Level 9 of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).

This micro-credential is designed specifically to improve the knowledge, skills, and clinical practice of nurses, GPs, social workers and/or paediatricians working with young people experiencing mental ill-health. It will extend your current scope of practice to meet the growing unmet needs of young people for mental healthcare, providing youth-specific skills and strategies you can effectively utilise when supporting them.

By the end of this course you'll have a greater understanding of best-practice biopsychosocial assessment, suicide and self-harm assessment and management, as well as case formulation frameworks for working with young people experiencing mental ill-health:

You'll be able to:

• Apply knowledge of evidence-based, best practice approaches to clinical care in youth mental health, including brief intervention strategies.
• Devise a youth-friendly biopsychosocial assessment and case formulation of a young person experiencing mental ill-health.
• Develop a safety management plan for a young person that considers deliberate self-harm or suicide.

This micro-credential runs over eight weeks.

Your total time commitment will be approximately 42 hours max, which includes:

• 10 hours guided study
• 18 - 22  hours self or peer learning
• 10 hours for assessment tasks

Assessment:

• Quizzes on Assessing and Enhancing Youth Mental Health in Primary Care: Weekly quiz comprising 5 questions to assess learning throughout the program (30%)
• Biopsychosocial assessment and case formulation: Written report comprising of a biopsychosocial assessment and case formulation of a young person experiencing mental ill-health based on case study material (70%).

Upon completion of this course, you will receive the Assessing and Enhancing Youth Mental Health in Primary Care Melbourne MicroCert – The University of Melbourne’s unique micro-credential digital certificate. This certificate demonstrates that you have acquired the knowledge, skills, and abilities outlined in the course’s learning outcomes. The certificate may also include artefacts such as videos and written materials related to both experimental and work-integrated learning, as well as relevant assessments applicable to your professional life. You can add your Melbourne MicroCert to your social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, and share it with others. Please see example certificate.

Assessing and Enhancing Youth Mental Health in Primary Care can be taken as a standalone micro-credential or you can complement it with the course Diagnosing and Managing Youth Mental Illness in Primary Care, which explores the youth-specific approaches and skills required to work with young people presenting with mental health concerns in clinical settings.

This suite includes:

• Assessing and Enhancing Youth Mental Health in Primary Care
• Diagnosing and Managing Youth Mental Illness in Primary Care

Delivered fully online, this course provides a convenient way to develop your skill set from a location that suits you. Within our digital learning environment, you'll engage with other professionals and leaders and take part in synchronous and asynchronous learning activities.

You'll have access to videos of industry leaders discussing key topics relating to the best-practice approaches to working with young people experiencing mental ill-health, drawing on case studies. You'll also take part in live online workshops, contribute to discussion boards with your peers, and complete independent study to deepen your understanding.

There is no set expiry date.