TheMHS conference 2024: Finding common ground

By Mark Smith, Programme Lead Outcomes and Information, Te Pou

I was privileged to attend the most recent TheMHS (The Mental Health Service) conference. The conference itself was held in Canberra but I was doubly privileged to attend virtually. It was a great conference. While I missed the networking and the food I did get to experience the presentations and keynotes and there was some really good ones.

The TheMHS conference organisers did a wonderful job with the technology. The virtual attendance at times was better than being there personally with up close views of powerpoint slides and presenters.

The theme this year was "Finding common ground: Celebrating difference and looking beyond to find common ground." In a world which often wants to analyse the smallest differences between people, this conference wanted to find common ground, and I think it succeeded.

Interestingly, the conference looked beyond the world of mental health and addictions for expertise in all three of its main keynote addresses. The first keynote was from a former Australian Ambassador Paul Dziatkowiec, who spoke about conflict mediation and resolution as a way of finding common ground. The insights of someone who works at that level was insightful.

The second keynote from Associate Professor Amanda Tattersall included a discussion of how her areas of expertise (social media and social activism) can be harnessed to find common ground between people. An interesting and engaging presentation from someone with lived experience of mental health challenges.

The third keynote was from Professor Toby Walsh, who spoke about the role of artificial intelligence in the health sector. He indicated the potential uses of AI in healthcare but also the many limitations on its use. I think this was my favourite presentation at the conference. Professor Walsh was a world expert on the topic and was able to communicate complex ideas in a simple way to a lay audience.

I attended the pre-conference workshop for consumers. This was an excellent forum with an initial keynote from Dr Chris Groot who spoke about addressing stigma and discrimination. He identified different sorts of stigma and how it may be combatted. There was a good participatory panel discussion with lots of audience involvement.

Mary O’Hagan from New Zealand spoke eloquently about how changing the mental health system was a long-term endeavour, one which might not be completed within her lifetime. She spoke about the need to move beyond biological/clinical psychiatry to a more socially-informed approach.

Three sessions stood out for me.

Firstly, there was a session on the most recent prevalence study in Australia. Associate Professor Meredith Harris and colleagues itemised their most recent national survey. The most conspicuous finding was increased rates of mental disorders amongst youth aged 16 to 25 years, compared with rates in the previous study in 2007. More people have been consulting GPs with mental health challenges since 2007, and yet there has been little change in consultations for those with serious mental disorders.

Secondly, there was a fascinating session with all the mental health commissions from across Australia and our own commission in New Zealand. The most noticeable feature was the commonalities between all the commissions and the kind of work they do. I was most struck by a question from the audience addressed to all the commissioners: "Given the deterioration in mental health in the past 10 years in Australia, how do we ensure that in 10 years' time we prevent further deterioration?" The commissioners found this a hard question to answer. I suspect we would be equally challenged in New Zealand.

Thirdly, a session on "Do No Harm" really impressed me. If we aren’t sure what to do sometimes we need to make sure we aren’t making the situation worse. The presenters discussed the different types of harm and how to lessen or limit harm. When we aren’t sure what is the right thing to do, having the humility to accept our ignorance was a theme which emerged from many of the presentations and discussions. That seems like a good place to land.

To learn more about TheMHS conferences and learning network, check out the TheMHS website.