Attendance: 25 | Members: 24 (of 47 Active Members) 51%
Our speaker at the first meeting of the new Rotary year was Dr Shurong Lu, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Mental Health and Community Wellbeing, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. Dr Lu is an Australian Rotary Health Royce Abbey Postdoctoral Fellow.
Dr Lu discussed the importance of child mental health in the age group 7 - 14 years as there is evidence that 50% of adult psychiatric problems date back to this stage of life.
Her particular interest is in culturally and linguistically diverse(CALD) communities. Child mental illness is challenging to diagnose in CALD communities, and often presents differently than in the wider Australian population. Furthermore, it may often be seen as a source of shame within families, more so in CALD communities.
Dr Lu's Australian Rotary Funded project is an initial evaluation of 70 parents or carers of children, who speak a language other than English at home. The ultimate aim is to develop a community based programme for assessing and maintaining