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Objective There is mixed evidence on the psychological effects of video games. While excessive use can be harmful, moderate use can have emotional, psychological and social benefits, with games successfully used in treating anxiety and depression. More data are required to understand how and for whom these benefits occur. This paper aims to identify correlations between video game genre, player demographics, wellbeing, and the in-play psychological processes for adult players. Method Adult gamers ( n = 2107) completed an anonymous cross-sectional survey canvassing play style, genre, perception of psychological impact and mechanisms (wellbeing, self-determination and flow). A multivariate multiple regression model explored correlations. Results 88.4% of participants experienced emotional benefits from gaming, with stronger benefits experienced by younger players in all categories. The genres most strongly correlated with psychological benefits were music games, role-playing games and survival horror games. Multiplayer online battle arena games had lower scores for psychological and emotional wellbeing. Conclusions Certain genres have stronger correlations with beneficial mechanisms, while some may be detrimental to players. These results may guide experimental studies to measure the directionality and strength of these correlations and can also impact practical aspects in development of therapeutic games to treat mental distress.

Objectives: The study describes the implementation and adaptation of a brief intervention model as routine clinical practice in an acute care service. Methods: An action research process informed the evaluation and design of the intervention. Results: The model’s theoretical framework enhanced clinical practice and benefited consumers, though it was too rigid to be implemented in an acute care setting, so was adapted to suit this environment. Conclusions: This paper highlights the value in realigning practice with fundamental engagement principles to improve practice outcomes.

Objective: The paper reports on the establishment of Papua New Guinea’s first ever health call centre. Method: Details of the phone calls received during the first nine weeks of the call centre’s operation are presented. Results: The data on phone call rates and types indicate a slight increase in utilisation of the service over the initial period. A total of 113 health-related phone calls were received during the first nine weeks of the call centre’s operation. Most of these calls were from the public, while a small number were from rural health workers. Prank calls and calls enquiring about the service were also received. During establishment, mental health was not considered and calls that may fall into this category have not been logged separately. Conclusions: Further analysis would need to be undertaken to determine the effectiveness of the health call centre model in the Papua New Guinea context. Scripts, protocols and analysis regarding mental health may need to be developed.

Objective: Australia’s prison population is growing at a rate well in excess of population growth. Indigenous Australians are over-represented by a factor of 13. Prisoners are a profoundly marginalised group characterised by complex health and social needs. Despite improvements in health during incarceration, poor health outcomes after release are common, and the net effect of incarceration is usually health depleting. Given the need for effective care coordination, primary care plays a pivotal role in meeting the health needs of this population. In this paper we review what is known about patterns of primary care utilisation in ex-prisoners, identify evidence-based strategies for increasing access to primary care in ex-prisoners, and consider how such contact may shape subsequent health service outcomes. Conclusions: Primary care is a necessary but not sufficient condition for effective post-release support. Positive outcomes may depend more on the quality than the quantity of care received. Given massive over-representation of Indigenous people in Australia’s prisons, and compelling evidence of preventable morbidity and mortality after release from prison, effective models of care for this population are an important component of closing the gap in Indigenous life expectancy.

Objectives: Despite the high prevalence of mental health problems for young Australians, many do not have ready access to treatment or are reluctant to seek help. Until recently there was a tendency for young Australians to fall between the gap of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Adult Mental Health Services, and this has contributed to low rates of service use for young people. In 2006, the Australian Government sought to redress this gap in service delivery with its establishment of the Australian National Youth Mental Health Foundation, headspace. This paper presents demographic data collected at headspace Gosford over a 5.5-year period. Conclusions: The data presented indicates that headspace Gosford has been successful in improving early access to mental health treatment for young people on the Central Coast, in particular for young people aged 14–18. Headspace Gosford has attracted young people of both sexes, with a higher proportion of females. The majority of young people access headspace for mental health problems, predominantly depression and anxiety; however, a significant proportion report physical health or alcohol and drug-related reasons. The likelihood of these referral reasons is informed by gender and age.

This project focuses upon the use of jam2jam, a generative computer system, to increase access to improvization experiences for children and to facilitate new kinds of relationships with artists. The network jamming system uses visual and audio cultural materials to enable communities to be expressive with artistic materials that they value as a community. As the system is part of a network, performances can be shared between communities at great distances and recordings of performances can be uploaded to a digital social network (http://www.jam2jam.com/) and shared both locally and with the wider community. This paper examines a preliminary project where artwork made by Indigenous mental health clients in Far North Queensland was digitized and given to a group of 8–12-year-old urban Indigenous children to ‘improvize’ with and make music/video clips using the jam2jam instrument. It seeks to generate a discussion and identify applications within creative arts-led community health settings to facilitate new kinds of relationships with self, peers, local community, culture and artists through collaborative improvization.

Objectives: This paper describes the experience and evaluation of a shared care project targeted at marginalized individuals living in the North End of Halifax, Nova Scotia. This population has high rates of psychiatric disorder, often comorbid with chronic medical conditions, and people have difficulty in obtaining the help they need. This primary care liaison service covers all ages and includes outreach to emergency shelters, transitional housing and drop-in centres. Collaborative care improved access, satisfaction and outcomes for marginalized individuals in urban settings. Primary care providers with access to the service reported greater comfort in dealing with mental health problems, and satisfaction with collaborative care, as well as mental health services in general. Results were significantly better than those of control practices when such data were available. The median wait time was 6 days in comparison with 39.5 days for the comparison site. Conclusions: This model can complement other initiatives to improve the health of marginalized populations, and may be relevant to Australia.

Objective: This paper examines the concept of consumer participation in the context of developmental changes in parent/child relationships and associated differences in the utilization of child and adolescent mental health services. Method: Existing definitions and characteristics of mental health service delivery for children and young people are examined to answer the question ,“Who is the consumer in the context of clinical services for young clients and their parents, and does this change with the child or young person's developmental stage?”. Results: As children, young people and parents utilize services in this area of mental health, the roles of consumer and carer need redefinition to accommodate both young clients and parents as consumers, and parents also as carers. Conclusion: The proposed framework addresses the changing roles of parents and young clients from infancy to early adulthood to guide consumer and carer participation strategies. If child and adolescent mental health services are to apply a developmental perspective and engage both young clients and parents as ‘consumers’, they need to address challenges related to the differences in expectations and capacities of young clients and parents, to the complexity associated with dual roles, and to promoting meaningful participation.

Objective: Experts forecast that the Internet will bring about radical change in healthcare. This paper aims to summarise evidence concerning the efficacy of Internet-based programs in the delivery of mental health care and its implications for mental health professionals. It also describes those Internet programs which are both of demonstrated effectiveness in the treatment of anxiety or depression and available without restriction or cost to the public. Conclusions: There is evidence that Internet-based programs can improve a range of mental health conditions. Some of these programs could be used by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals as an adjunct to clinician-based treatment. However, clinicians need to know which programs work and how they can be accessed.

Objective: Australian Indigenous peoples in remote and rural settings continue to have limited access to treatment for mental illness. Comorbid disorders complicate presentations in primary care where Indigenous youths and perinatal women are at particular risk. Despite this high comorbidity there are few examples of successful models of integrated treatment. This paper outlines these challenges and provides recommendations for practice that derive from recent developments in the Northern Territory. Conclusions: There is a strong need to develop evidence for the effectiveness of integrated and culturally informed individual and service level interventions. We describe the Best practice in Early intervention Assessment and Treatment of depression and substance misuse study which seeks to address this need.