Remarks by Maxwell Chibundu

Good morning and my welcome to the audience. I would like to thank our panel chair, Dr. Jacobson, my co-panelists, and especially the panel's organizer, Professor Mortimer Sellers, who has been a terrific friend and colleague for over a quarter century. He exemplifies all that is commendable about modern cosmopolitans. It is a genuine pleasure to be back as an ASIL Annual Meeting participant, and I congratulate the meeting organizers for a very good conference.

A Model for Consultation with Aboriginal Stakeholders About Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing: the NSW School-Link Training Program

Objective: The aim of this paper is to describe a model for consultation with Aboriginal stakeholders used in the development of a training course, by the NSW Institute of Psychiatry, about young people's mental health and wellbeing. Historical, social and political factors contribute to the elevated rates of mental distress and disorder experienced by many Aboriginal young people. However, these young people often do not receive the help they need. Knowledge, skills and attitudes of clinicians are associated with the uptake of services. Therefore, a training course for clinicians was developed utilizing a detailed consultation process with Aboriginal stakeholders. Conclusions: The course was delivered as part of an ongoing comprehensive interagency training program for 2000 clinicians. The course was positively evaluated by participants and stakeholders, suggesting that the course development, including the consultation process with Aboriginal stakeholders, was effective in meeting participant and stakeholder needs. Agencies may be interested in the application of this model to consultation processes with Aboriginal communities and with other populations.