Valued but tenuous? Postgraduate clinical psychology placements for psychology students in rural and remote areas - implications for future directions.

INTRODUCTION: This study is located at the complex intersection of healthcare service provision, healthcare workforce and practice-based education. The study explored postgraduate clinical psychology placements in rural and remote locations and was part of a larger study known as the Mental Health Tertiary Curriculum project. METHOD: A qualitative approach incorporating thematic analysis was used to explore experiences. Ten structured individual interviews were conducted across Australia. Participants were eight postgraduate psychology students, one service provider and one representative of an educational institution. RESULTS: Two key themes were derived from the data. The first theme, 'Beyond expectations, but …', recognised the value of clinical placements from the students' perspectives, but cautioned against the challenges faced by supervisors supporting these placements. The second theme, 'Immersed in connectedness with …', makes explicit the growing sense of belonging and professional identity that accompanied students' engagement with their rural communities, other health professions and their own profession. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the complexity of developing workplace readiness for psychology students and provides areas for future consideration including the role of practice-based education and where this notion fits within undergraduate psychology degrees.

MBRRACE in simulation: an evaluation of a multi-disciplinary simulation training for medical emergencies in obstetrics (MEmO).

The majority of maternal deaths in the UK are due to pre-existing or new-onset medical conditions, known as 'indirect deaths'. The MBRRACE report identified serious gaps in clinicians' human factors skills, including communication, leadership and teamwork, which contributed to maternal death. In response, we developed the first multi-disciplinary simulation-based training programme designed to address Medical Emergencies in Obstetrics (MEmO). Employing a mixed methods design, this study evaluated the educational impact of this training programme on the healthcare staff (n = 140), including the medical doctors (n = 91) and the midwives (n = 49). The training improved participants' clinical management of medical deterioration in pregnancy (p=.003) alongside improving their human factors skills (p=.004). Furthermore, participants reported the translation of these skills to their routine clinical practice. This flexible training is responsive to the changing national needs and contextualises the MBRRACE findings for healthcare staff. It is a promising avenue for reducing the rates of in-direct death in pregnancy. Impact statement What is already known on this subject? The majority of maternal deaths in the UK are due to pre-existing or new-onset medical conditions. The management of medical conditions in pregnancy relies on a multi-professional approach. However, serious gaps in clinicians' human factors skills, highlighted by the MBRRACE report, may contribute to maternal death. What do the results of this study add? This study evaluated the first multi-disciplinary, simulation-based training programme designed to address Medical Emergencies in Obstetrics (MEmO). Training significantly improved participants' management of medical deterioration in pregnancy and human factors skills, particularly in the areas of leadership, communication and teamwork. Moreover, the participants learning translated into their clinical practice. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? The delivery of multi-disciplinary team training for all healthcare staff involved in the complex management of medical conditions in pregnancy can help develop a greater understanding of others' professional roles, and demonstrate the importance of interprofessional teamwork. Furthermore, it provides the space to reflect on team working approaches, including the leadership and professional autonomy, and their potential impact on patient care. Future research should evaluate the impact of this training on the objective outcome measures of medical emergencies in pregnancy.

Mental health academics in rural and remote Australia.

CONTEXT: The significant impact of mental ill health in rural and remote Australia has been well documented. Included among innovative approaches undertaken to address this issue has been the Mental Health Academic (MHA) project, established in 2007. Funded by the Australian Government (Department of Health), this project was established as a component of the University Departments of Rural Health (UDRH) program. All 11 UDRHs appointed an MHA. Although widely geographically dispersed, the MHAs have collaborated in various ways. The MHA project encompasses a range of activities addressing four key performance indicators. These activities, undertaken in rural and remote Australia, aimed to increase access to mental health services, promote awareness of mental health issues, support students undertaking mental health training and improve health professionals' capacity to recognise and address mental health issues. MHAs were strategically placed within the UDRHs across the country, ensuring an established academic base for the MHAs' work was available immediately. Close association with each local rural community was recognised as important. For most MHAs this was facilitated by having an established clinical role in their local community and actively engaging with the community in which they worked. In common with other rural health initiatives, some difficulties were experienced in the recruitment of suitable MHAs, especially in more remote locations. The genesis of this article was a national meeting of the MHAs in 2014, to identify and map the different types of activities MHAs had undertaken in their regions. These activities were analysed and categorised by the MHAs. These categories have been used as a guiding framework for this article. ISSUES: The challenge to increase community access to mental health services was addressed by (i) initiatives to address specific access barriers, (ii) supporting recruitment and retention of rural mental health staff, (iii) developing the skills of the existing workforce and (iv) developing innovative approaches to student placements. Strategies to promote awareness of mental health issues included workshops in rural and remote communities, specific suicide prevention initiatives and targeted initiatives to support the mental health needs of Indigenous Australians. The need for collaboration between the widely dispersed MHAs was identified as important to bridge the rural divide, to promote project cohesiveness and ensure new ideas in an emerging setting are readily shared and to provide professional support for one another as mental health academics are often isolated from academic colleagues with similar mental health interests. LESSONS LEARNED: The MHA project suggests that an integrated approach can be taken to address the common difficulties of community awareness raising of mental health issues, increasing access to mental health services, workforce recruitment and retention (access), and skill development of existing health professionals (access and awareness). To address the specific needs and circumstances of their community, MHAs have customised their activities. As in other rural initiatives, one size was found not to fit all. The triad of flexibility, diversity and connectedness (both to local community and other MHAs) describes the response identified as appropriate by the MHAs. The breadth of the MHA role to provide university sponsored educational activities outside traditional student teaching meant that the broader health workforce benefited from access to mental health training that would not otherwise have occurred. Provision of these additional educational opportunities addressed not only the need for increased education regarding mental health but also reduced the barriers commonly faced by rural health professionals in accessing quality professional development.