MRFF project delivering better aged care through mental health support

It is one of the chronically neglected fields in mental health research, but now, thanks to funding from the?NHMRC?and the?Medical Research Future Fund, Senior Research Fellow at?Flinders University?Dr Monica Cations is embarking on wide-ranging research to examine the mental health of older Australians and their access to services and support.

Dr Cations’?NHMRC/MRFF Emerging Leadership Investigator Grant?sees her focus particularly on people over 65 years who are living in residential aged care but has implications for older people ageing in place and accessing services in their homes.?

“At a very broad level, for many people the process of ageing involves losing control over some of their decision making and their choices, and that can be confronting and lead to anxiety or depression, exacerbate existing mental health conditions, or trigger past traumas,” Dr Cations says.

“In my research I want at first to understand the prevalence of mental ill-health for older Australians and then consider what the barriers are to receiving Medicare-funded mental health services, especially for people living in residential aged care.”

Being awarded an MRFF/NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellowship recognises the importance of the kind of translational research being undertaken by Dr Cations.

Researchers and teams wanting to learn more about the support available to apply for MRFF funding should contact their institutional MRFF Support Lead or HTSA via the?SA MRFF Working Group page?on the HTSA website.

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