Webinar 29 - Prevention and Treatment of Perinatal Mood Disorders

The impact of perinatal mood disorders and ways in which distress can be prevented, detected and treated will be reviewed. It will introduce several leading Australian perinatal mental health resources and how practitioners can use online tools in clinical practice.

This webinar is designed to review the impact of perinatal psychological distress and mood disorders and increase participants understanding of ways in which distress can be prevented, detected and treated.

Professor Jeannette Milgrom, Clinical Psychologist and Director, Parent Infant Research Institute (PIRI), Austin Health and  University of Melbourne  will join Professor Jane Fisher, Finkel Professor of Global Health, Monash University and Dr. Elizabeth Maher, specialist GP at the Masada Early Parenting Centre to help us to identify risk and presence of maternal psychological distress and mood disorders, and introduce us to treatment approaches including a leading Australian online perinatal mental health resource, MumSpace and how practitioners can use them in clinical practice. 

The webinar will specifically cover

Learning Objectives

By the end of the webinar participants will be able to:

• Describe the prevalence, risk factors, and impact of perinatal mood disorders
• Understand the role of screening, tools available and diagnosis, risk management and onward referral / management
• Identify at least 3 online Australian evidence-based resources that can help support the manageemnt of patients with or at risk of perinatal mood disorders
• Describe ways in which professional might incorporate these resources into clinical practice
• Understand the needs of women and the needs of women for support

Section 1 | Identification of risk and presence of maternal psychological distress and mood disorders in clinical practice

• Prevalence risk factors, impact
• Screening tools
• Risk assessment
• Diagnosis
• Consumer perspective

 Section 2 | Australian evidence based resources for health professionals 

• Treatment tools Prevention/Other Tools MumSpace as a portal to access online tools Incorporating online tools in practice

Section 3 | Presentations in Practice

• Case Study 1 | Women with significant distress or adjusting to the transition to parenthood
• Case Study 2 | Depressive mood  disorder

The webinar series examines some of the online mental health treatment programs that GPs need to know about, focusing on evidence-based programs that have been developed in Australia. The evidence around the efficacy and usefulness of different programs will be discussed along with practical aspects of using the programs.

Summary:

• e-Mental Health programs are a useful adjunct to mental health treatment in primary care
• there is good evidence that patient outcomes improve with the use of e-Mental Health programs
• a variety of locally-developed e-Mental Health programs are available
• GPs need to be familiar with the programs their patients are using and be able to recommend the use of these programs appropriately.

GPs and GP registrars, psychologists and allied mental health practitioners, in fact any health professional with an interest in improving outcomes for patients with mental health conditions.