The Learning Centre is pleased to host Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training, with deliveries on offer by an accredited MHFA facilitator in 2018.

This two day course teaches people how to offer initial support to adults who are developing a mental health problem, experiencing a worsening of an existing mental health problem or in a mental health crisis, until appropriate professional help is received or the crisis resolves.

Note: Unlike other Learning Centre courses, this course is recommended specifically for non-clinical staff. Clinicians and other health practitioners should refer to other Learning Centre courses for their training needs.

More information about this course is available on the MHFA Australia website - Standard MHFA

The Learning Centre currently offers Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training with deliveries being scheduled by request only. Deliveries will attract a fee so please contact the Learning Centre for a quote or to discuss availability.

The two day Youth Mental Health First Aid course is for adults working or living with adolescents (those aged approximately 12 and 18 years). However, the course can be relevant for those helping people who are a little younger or older. This course is particularly suitable for parents, school staff, sports coaches, and youth workers.

Note: unlike other Learning Centre courses, this course in recommended specifically for non-clinical staff. Clinicians and other health practitioners should refer to other Learning Centre courses for their training needs.

More information about this course is available on the MHFA Australia website - Youth Mental Health First Aid

"Supervision is a designated interaction between two or more practitioners, within a safe and supportive environment, which enables a process of reflective, critical analysis of care, to ensure quality consumer services." (Clinical Supervision Guidelines for Mental Health Services, 2009).

This two-day workshop will prepare you for your supervisor role. It is designed for staff from all disciplines including non-clinical areas such as the peer workforce. During this workshop you will explore ways to enhance your supervisor skills using a variety of strategies and tools. Several high-quality skills demonstration videos are shown that model the core elements of good supervision practice. As you deepen your understanding of these elements you will have opportunities to practise delivering supervision that is culturally sensitive.

To be able to progress and enrol in this training you must pass a pre-enrolment screen that requires you to:

• meet the minimum requirements to be a Supervisor as set out in the Clinical Supervision Guidelines for Mental Health Services 2009
• achieve a minimum of 90% correct for twenty multiple choice knowledge questions.

There are resources provided to help you answer the questions.

This screen ensures that everyone who attends our QC4 Supervisor training comes with a similar understanding of the key concepts, regardless of previous experience and/or training in supervision.

Note: this course is a pre-requisite for those wishing to complete QC12 Supervising Supervisors.

More information about this course is available in the handout: QC4 Supervisor - Course handout

This one day workshop aims to promote evidence-based clinical risk assessment and management practices that improve consistency in the assessment and management of consumer risks. The workshop provides participants with skills to gather and identify risk factors relevant to an individual, and complete an analysis of risks weighed against mitigating factors. Designed for mental health practitioners of all levels of experience, professionals from other services may also find this workshop highly relevant when working with people experiencing mental health problems.

More information about this course is available in the handout: QC9 Critical Components of Risk Assessment and Management- Course handout

Violence Risk Assessment and Management Framework - Induction Video

This video introduces and describes the Queensland Health Violence risk assessment and management framework – mental health services (the Framework). The video presents information about the three-tiered approach to violence risk assessment and response within the Framework, the purpose and principles of the Framework, how the Framework will be implemented, and clinical roles and responsibilities.

The video runs for approximately 20 minutes.

A transcript of the video can be downloaded here.

(Refresher for QC9 Critical Components of Risk Assessment and Management)

This 4-hour refresher course provides clinicians with an opportunity to update their risk assessment and management skills. It is an ideal opportunity to apply practical skills using a case scenario and is delivered via an online classroom using a Zoom meeting platform, making it accessible for people across Queensland. Learners will connect via a computer/laptop or other device to join the workshop – no travel necessary!

In addition to refreshing the thorough identification of risk factors, the course reinforces the importance of using informed professional judgement to develop risk summaries that effectively communicate the weighing up of identified risk and protective factors. The course uses comparative language and prevention-oriented approaches to formulation. There is a key emphasis on the development of treatment plans guided by the individual needs of the consumer, with a recovery-oriented approach.

Note: This course is not a substitute for attending the full day QC9 Critical Components of Risk Assessment and Management. Participants are expected to have previously completed the QC9 workshop, or QC54 Foundations of Risk Assessment and Management eLearning, additionally have applied clinical practice knowledge.

More information about this course is available in the handout: QC19 Risk Refresher - Course handout

(Adapted from QC9 Critical Components of Risk Assessment and Management)

Delivered via online classroom, this two-session course aims to promote evidence-based clinical risk assessment and management practices that improve consistency in the assessment and management of risks in mental health.

Session One (4 hours) provides participants with skills to gather and identify risk factors relevant to an individual, by working through a case example.

Session Two (4 hours) will develop skills in weighing up risk factors, documenting these clearly in a risk summary, and developing individualised plans and interventions to address the risks.

Designed for mental health practitioners of all levels of experience, professionals from other services may also find this workshop highly relevant when working with people experiencing mental health problems.

More information about the course content including anticipated learning outcomes, can be found in the QC9 course handout: QC9 Critical Components of Risk Assessment and Management- Course handout

This 3 hour course draws together elements from the former QC13 Capacity Assessment face-to-face workshop and QC40 Capacity Assessment Training and Advance Health Directives.

As well as incorporating recent updates, this course has been developed to provide a short and interactive skills workshop for assessing capacity in adults in mental health. The course will help you to understand:

• capacity and consent, and the factors that impact on this;
• how to document capacity; the ‘less restrictive way’ for providing consent to treatment (including use of Advance Health Directives);
• and legislative frameworks to support capacity decisions and upholding the person’s human rights, particularly the Mental Health Act 2016 and Guardianship and Administration Act 2000.

Video scenarios are used to help you to apply the skills taught.

This course is designed for Educators delivering or planning to deliver QC61 SRAM-ED workshops in local HHS services. Participants of the Train-the-trainer course must be committed to delivering a prescribed number of sessions determined by local staffing needs and provide documented evidence of these in reports to the primary stakeholder.

An Expression of Interest addressing selection criteria must be submitted in order to be considered for this course (see below). Alternatively Contact sramed@health.qld.gov.au for more information.

More information about the course content, including the full list of learning outcomes, are available in the handout: QC25 Suicide Risk Assessment and Management in an Emergency Department Setting (SRAM-ED) - Train-the-trainer - Course handout

Expression of Interest

You will be notified when your submission is approved. At that time, access to the course will be made available to you.

This course has two versions. If you are looking for the Youth version of this course please scroll down or search for QC28.

QC2: EARS has been designed to develop core clinical competencies and practices that align with the training element of the Zero Suicide framework and is currently being rolled out across Zero Suicide sites across Queensland.

Designed in collaboration with the Gold Coast Hospital and Health service, EARS explores suicide risk and represents a philosophical shift in the treatment of suicidality within Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs services. This includes a shift away from a focus on prediction, towards a framework for prevention, and a shift away from clinician orientated treatment of illness, towards a collaborative process of engagement and care planning that conceptualises suicide as a behaviour that requires specific targeted intervention.

EARS presents a number of conceptual models for understanding suicidal behaviours that can be applied to individuals across the lifespan.

The blended learning course comprises of two components - beginning with eLearning modules (part 1), and concluding with a full day face-to-face workshop (part 2).

QC2 EARS is aimed at both new clinicians commencing clinical practice and experienced practitioners seeking to update and consolidate their practice framework with contemporary understanding of supporting suicidal people.

More information about this course is available in the handout: QC2 Engage, Assess, Respond to, and Support Suicidal People - Course handout

This course is no longer being delivered in this format. A new version of this course is now available under the QC25 course code.

This course is designed for Educators delivering SRAM-ED workshops in local HHS services. Participants must be committed to delivering a prescribed number of sessions as determined by local staffing needs and provide documented evidence of these in reports to the primary stakeholder.

An Expression of Interest must be submitted, addressing selection criteria, in order to be considered for this course. Contact sramed@health.qld.gov.au for more information.

Note: if you are interested in attending a local SRAM-ED Foundational or Advanced workshop please contact your local educator. Local workshop sessions are not managed by the Learning Centre.

More information about this course is available in the handout: QC25 Suicide Risk Assessment and Management in an Emergency Department Setting (SRAM-ED) - Train-the-trainer - Course handout

The Queensland Centre for Mental Health Learning (Learning Centre) has for many years been a key source for suicide risk assessment training across Queensland, more recently being invited by a number of stakeholder groups to tailor the program with a focus on working with Youth. Thus when the major redevelopment of our core QC2 Suicide Risk Assessment course was being scoped, the parameters of the project were widened to allow for the development of QC28 Youth: Engage, Assess, Respond to, and Support Suicidal People (YEARS).

The course will address youth specific developmental and systemic issues.

The blended learning course comprises of two components - beginning with eLearning modules (part 1), followed by a full day face-to-face workshop (part 2).

QC28 YEARS will be suitable for both new clinicians commencing clinical practice and experienced practitioners seeking to update and consolidate their practice framework with contemporary understanding of supporting suicidal people.

More information about this course is available in the handout: QC28 Youth: Engage, Assess, Respond to, and Support Suicidal People - Course handout

(Adapted from QC2 Engage, Assess, Respond to, and Support Suicidal People)

Contemporary suicide prevention models will be presented to enhance understanding and responses to suicidal behaviours of individuals across the lifespan.

Session One (4 hours) develop a greater understanding of working with suicidal people and assessing risk and protective factors and implications for care planning.

Session Two (4 hours) develop skills in assessing suicidal intent and prevention-orientated risk summary and managing acute risk.

This course is aimed at both new clinicians and experienced practitioners seeking to update, refresh or consolidate their practice framework with suicidal people.

More information about the course content including anticipated learning outcomes, can be found in the QC2 course handout: QC2 Engage, Assess, Respond to, and Support Suicidal People - Course handout

Suicide Risk Assessment and Management in Emergency Department Settings (SRAM-ED) Foundational training is a blended learning course comprising of two eLearning modules and a face-to-face workshop. This course is designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of clinicians’ working in emergency department settings with patients who are at risk of suicide. The two eLearning modules are prerequisites to attending the face-to-face foundational workshop.

If you have not yet enrolled in the face-to-face workshop you will need to register your interest with your local trainer.

Gold Coast Suicide Prevention Pathway Training is a blended learning course comprising of four eLearning modules and a full day face-to-face workshop. This course is designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of clinicians working in a Gold Coast Mental Health Service to support their work with patients at risk of suicide. This training also supports the implementation of the “Suicide Prevention Pathway”. The four eLearning modules take approximately 30 minutes each to complete and are pre-requisites to attending the face-to-face workshop. This training is a modification of the Suicide Risk Assessment and Management in Emergency Department Settings (SRAM-ED) training. The training in the first 3 modules will make reference to Emergency Departments, however the skills are transferable to all settings. Module 4 specifically addresses the Gold Coast Suicide Prevention Pathway.

This Sensory Approaches training course is designed to provide an introduction to the use of sensory approaches in mental health settings. The course has been designed through collaboration between the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Learning (Learning Centre) and the Occupational Therapy Mental Health Sensory Approaches Clinical Collaborative. The package will provide you with an introduction to the use of sensory approaches and how they work, as well as some skills and techniques to begin to use sensory strategies in your contact with mental health consumers. We hope this training course will assist and enhance your clinical skills and benefit you, your service, and the consumers with whom you have contact.

A police and ambulance intervention plan (PAIP) is a plan developed by mental health clinicians that provides specific information and strategies regarding a consumer to inform and assist the Queensland Police Service (QPS) and the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) to mediate a mental health event involving a consumer in the community.

This course is designed to support mental health clinicians working with children and young people to understand what the ‘less restrictive way’ means within the context of the Mental Health Act 2016. It strengthens the ability of clinicians to assess a child or young person’s capacity to consent to mental health treatment to determine ‘Gillick competence’. A variety of tools and strategies are also showcased to facilitate a child or young person’s ability to engage meaningfully in the process of decision-making. These include communication approaches (e.g., visual prompts and tools) and sensory approaches.

This eLearning course provides a comprehensive and interactive overview of the founding principles of formulation and intervention planning. Throughout the course the learner receives information which is then applied to a case study. The clinician’s thinking process is made explicit throughout the module, in order to support the learner’s own development.

In the Formulation section of the course, the 5P approach to formulation is described and then applied. A focus on understanding and describing links between various factors of the formulation is demonstrated in order to improve clinical understanding.

In the Intervention Planning section, the process of utilising a person’s individual recovery goals within a shared formulation, to co-create clinical goals and intervention strategies, is explained and examples provided. Foundational principles of intervention planning (e.g. SMARTER strategies) are also described and applied.

This course complements the face-to-face course QC14 Fundamentals of Assessment, Formulation and Planning, however is not a compulsory part of that course.

This eLearning course is designed to provide information to support clinicians working with consumers at risk of becoming violent or aggressive; and is based on Queensland Health policy, including the Violence risk assessment and management framework – mental health services (the Framework). It is useful to any clinician working with individuals who may be at risk for exhibiting violence or aggression.

Specifically, this course will furnish you with knowledge regarding practical elements of working with violence risk in a Queensland Health context including understanding how to apply the Framework, and how to use the Violence Risk Assessment and Management (V-RAM) tool. Key concepts related to the assessment of violence risk are covered, including the principles and components of information gathering (evidence based risk factors), collection of collateral information, information sharing, and strategies to overcome common barriers. Strategies for conceptualising assessment information are demonstrated, in order to write a useful risk summary. A suggested template is provided to help guide your thought process in the workplace. Risk management planning is covered next, discussing how to ensure risk management plans are linked to risk summaries, suggested intervention strategies for common violence risk factors, how to distinguish between long-term and short-term risk management strategies, consideration of referrals to specialist forensic services, and reassessment of risk. Throughout the eLearning course, vignettes are provided to illustrate the application of content.

Note: This eLearning is a component of the QC30 Violence Risk Assessment and Management training. Completion of this eLearning alone does not meet the recommended training for individuals taking on the responsibilities of a Senior Clinician (as defined by the Framework). The full training to support Senior Clinicians involves the subsequent completion of the face-to-face component of QC30, as well as in-service support. Go to QC30 Violence Risk Assessment and Management for more information.

The course will build your skills and knowledge of termination of pregnancy healthcare. It has been designed for all clinicians, healthcare practitioner students and staff who work in healthcare, with an emphasis on healthcare practitioners that do not normally provide termination healthcare.

This course is designed for individuals who wish to be appointed as an authorised mental health practitioner under the Mental Health Act 2016 and for authorised mental health practitioners who wish to refresh their knowledge of the Act.

This resource provides an overview of CYMHS philosophy and frameworks and addresses the first phase of Core Competency development in CYMHS in the areas of assessment, formulation and treatment planning. Each unit provides introductory theory via DVD presentations with accompanying PowerPoint notes and additional learning materials, including reflective exercises/clinical activities to consolidate learning.

This online awareness package communicates the key issues addressed in the 2016 Sexual Health and Safety Guidelines for mental health, alcohol and other drug services. It is designed as a tool for Hospital and Health Services to use in the orientation of new staff as well as local training programs, especially those focusing on risk assessment, care planning and physical health.