1. How did you first become involved in your field?
I trained as an Occupational Therapist and worked in country South Australia. During this time I had the opportunity to work alongside a small team of people with a strong commitment to mental health promotion, prevention and the social determinants of health. I also had an interest in child development and public health and was fortunate enough to find work opportunities where I could bring all of these interest areas together.
2. If people could know one point about your work what would you like them to know?
Experiences in infancy and childhood play a very important role in lifelong mental health. With 1 in 7 children experiencing mental health difficulties, this presentation will highlight the many opportunities across workforce groups to strengthen the social and emotional wellbeing of infants and children.
3. What’s one thing not many people know about you?
Hard question… I think most people don’t know that I started my life on a farm in country South Australia (or maybe they can just tell!).
4. Why are you looking forward to coming to Adelaide?
I live in Adelaide – but excited to connect with our many friends and colleagues who will be gathering in one place.
5. Where can people find out more about your work?
- Check out our website www.emergingminds.com.au – from there people can connect with our news, social media and access free training and resources.
- TheMHS Conference 2018 Adelaide, S51: Thursday, August 30, 2018 – 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM, Room E3 – Emerging Minds: The National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health
Brad’s Abstract for TheMHS Conference 2018:
Supporting children’s mental health should be a responsibility of all health and welfare practitioners and organisations, whether they work directly with children or not. The Emerging Minds: National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health has been established to assist professionals and organisations who work with children and/or parents to have the skills to identify, assess and support children at risk of mental health difficulties.
The National Workforce Centre incorporates three key components: an online workforce gateway for members of diverse workforce groups to access resources such as practice guides, training, webinars, tools and apps; a national network of regionally-based Child Mental Health Workforce Consultants to support workforce development, systems change, information exchange and collaboration; and, a communication and knowledge translation strategy to support the diffusion of evidence into practice.
Brad Morgan
Brad Morgan is Director of the National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health, a new initiative established by the Australian Government to strengthen the capacity of workforce groups supporting parents, children and families to identify, assess and support children at risk of mental health difficulties.
