Perinatal Mental Health Co-design Project

The Victorian Refugee Health Network has been commissioned by the Victorian Department of Health to undertake consultations to inform the development of new Victorian perinatal mental health screening guidelines.

The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System identified a need to review approaches to perinatal mental health screening to address inclusivity, cultural appropriateness, and the therapeutic context of screening (Recommendation 18.2). The Network will undertake various activities including consultations with the health sector and establish a community advisory group with Victorian women from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. Community Advisory group members are invited to provide feedback and insights from their lived experience to review perinatal screening approaches and how they can be culturally responsive to the communities needs and ensure that systemic barriers are addressed.

The Network will undertake sector consultations with representatives from the refugee health sector workforce and/or who have undertaken academic research in this field. The Network acknowledges the insightful research that has been done by sector representatives on perinatal mental health screening and hope to explore how these insights connect to current practice and experiences by health care professionals.

The project will develop and deliver the following:

• Establish a lived experience Community Advisory Group with women from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds and run a series of Community Consultation sessions.
• Undertake sector consultations with representatives from the refugee health sector workforce and/or who have undertaken academic research in this field.
• Facilitate community consultations with already established groups within the community.
• Facilitate a workshop for all participants to attend to share findings that will subsequently be provided to the Expert Advisory Group (EAG).