This model of care emphasises not only early access to assessment across a number of clinical and functional domains but also rapid and ongoing provision of stage‐appropriate interventions
Australia can rightly claim to lead the world in mental health awareness, especially for the mental health and wellbeing of young people.1 However, despite the development of designated primary care‐style services (eg, headspace),1 we still do not deliver effective care, early in the course of illness, to most young people with anxiety, depression, or alcohol or other substance misuse.2 Even when we do deliver care, the longer term functional outcomes are often disappointing.3 The consequences of this failure remain large — personally, socially and economically.4
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- 2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Mental health services: in brief 2018. Canberra: AIHW; 2018. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mental-health-services/mental-health-services-in-australia-in-brief-2018/contents/table-of-contents (accessed Sep 2019).
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- 7. Hickie IB, Davenport TA, Burns J. Project Synergy: co‐designing technology‐enabled solutions for Australian mental health services reform. Med J Aust 2019; 211 (7 Suppl): S3–S39. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2019/211/7/project-synergy-co-designing-technology-enabled-solutions-australian-mental
- 8. Lewis CC, Boyd M, Puspitasari A, et al. Implementing measurement‐based care in behavioral health: a review. JAMA Psychiatry 2019; 76: 324–335.
- 9. Iorfino F, Hickie I, Lee R, et al. The underlying neurobiology of key functional domains in young people with mood and anxiety disorders: a systematic review. BMC Psychiatry 2016; 16: 156.
- 10. McGorry P, Hickie I, Yung A, et al. Clinical staging of psychiatric disorders: a heuristic framework for choosing earlier, safer and more effective interventions. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2006; 40: 616–622.
- 11. McGorry PD, Purcell R, Hickie IB, et al. Clinical staging: a heuristic model for psychiatry and youth mental health. Med J Aust 2007; 187: S40. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2007/187/7/clinical-staging-heuristic-model-psychiatry-and-youth-mental-health.
- 12. McGorry P, Hickie I, editors. Clinical staging in psychiatry: making diagnosis work for research and treatment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019.
- 13. Iorfino F, Scott EM, Carpenter JS, et al. Clinical stage transitions in persons aged 12 to 25 years presenting to early intervention mental health services with anxiety, mood, and psychotic disorders. JAMA Psychiatry 2019; https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.2360.
- 14. McGorry PD, Ratheesh A, O'Donoghue B. Early intervention – an implementation challenge for 21st century mental health care. JAMA Psychiatry 2018; 75: 545–546.
- 15. Couvy‐Duchesne B, O'Callaghan V, Parker R, et al. Nineteen and Up study (19Up): understanding pathways to mental health disorders in young Australian twins. BMJ Open. 2018; 8: e018959.
- 16. Hickie I, Scott J, Hermens D, et al. Clinical classification in mental health at the cross‐roads: which direction next? BMC Med 2013; 11: 125.
- 17. Chang L, Couvy‐Duchesne B, Medland S, et al. The genetic relationship between psychological distress, somatic distress, affective disorders, and substance use in young Australian adults: a multivariate twin study. Twin Res Hum Genet 2018; 21: 347–360.
- 18. Hickie IB, Hermens DF, Naismith SL, et al. Evaluating differential developmental trajectories to adolescent‐onset mood and psychotic disorders. BMC Psychiatry 2013; 13: 303.
- 19. Hickie IB, Banati R, Stewart CH, Lloyd AR. Are common childhood or adolescent infections risk factors for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders? Med J Aust 2009; 190: S17–S21. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2009/190/4/are-common-childhood-or-adolescent-infections-risk-factors-schizophrenia-and.
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- 21. Weber D. Groundbreaking study links immune system to mental health. ABC News 2016; 27 May. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-27/mental-health-study-a-boon-to-patients-immune-system/7455310 (accessed Sep 2019).
- 22. Australian Government Department of Health. The size, skill level and distribution of the workforce with mental health skills. September 2010. https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/mentalba-eval-c-toc~mental-ba-eval-c-4~mental-ba-eval-c-4-2 (accessed Sep 2019).
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Project Synergy (2014–2016) was commissioned by the Department of Health and conducted by the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre in partnership with the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Centre. The Department of Health has provided Project Synergy further funding of $30 million which has led to the development of InnoWell Pty Ltd, a joint venture between the University of Sydney and PricewaterhouseCoopers (Australia) (PwC). InnoWell has developed the InnoWell Platform, which is mentioned throughout the Supplement as a technology‐enabled solution to reform mental health care services. The University of Sydney and PwC (Australia) each have a 45% shareholding in InnoWell. The remaining 10% shareholding is evenly shared between Professor Jane Burns and Professor Ian Hickie.