Research

Albert Road Clinic is currently leading a national project that seeks to measure patient reported outcomes in mental health. Based on the ICHOM Depression and Anxiety dataset, and governed by a national steering committee, the project will be the first to measure patient reported outcomes in several mental health facilities across Ramsay Health Care.

Funded by the Ramsay Hospital Research Foundation, patient participation is voluntary and features broad inclusion criteria – participants aged 18 years or older, have a diagnosis of depression and/or anxiety, have access to reliable internet and be able to complete a range of surveys at the required time points.

In collaboration with Barwon Health and Deakin University, Albert Road Clinic is participating in a clinical trial to test of the efficiency of adjunctive Garcinia mangostana linn (mangosteen) pericarp for bipolar depression.

Albert Road Clinic is current recruiting for the position of research assistant to facilitate a double-blind randomised, placebo controlled trial.

Ramsay Health Care have partnered with The George Institute for Global Health to design and evaluate an innovative, efficient, outcome‐focused strategy to improve the long‐term mental health of their clients. Professor Malcolm Hopwood has been an active participant in the initial stages of the project and Albert Road Clinic staff has been to Sydney to participate in the planning day. The anticipated outcome is the development of a structured set of text messages to facilitate after care for recently discharged patients.

Members of the Albert Road Clinic Professorial Psychiatry Unit have made important contributions to recent RANZCP Guideline production, including specifically the production of the RANZCP Clinical practice Guideline for the Treatment of Mood Disorders.

Professor Hopwood is playing a role as Psychiatrist Advisor to the development of content for the new Beyond Blue Depression Guidelines.

The Unit is also currently leading an ISSCR funded project to develop Guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of Neurobehavioural symptoms post traumatic brain injury. This project is entering its final stages with guideline publication and dissemination anticipated in the second half of 2018.

Albert Road Clinic staff member and Ramsay Health Care Ella Lowe Scholarship recipient Claire Hayes is currently undertaking her PhD project examining outcomes of treatment in the Adolescent Inpatient Unit using a mixed methods approach. The study involves seeking the views of patients, families and staff members in whether the outcomes are all that we want, and what is it that contributes value. Claire is targeting completion of her PhD in 2019 and the results should be of interest to us.