Schools and early childhood services are also settings that can provide information to parents and support children and families to connect
with health and community professionals in cases of mental health difficulties.
This creative, collaborative process works best when it includes everyone in your community — children, educators, families, and often others... such
as health and community professionals.
There are many
health and community professionals engaged with KidsMatter in the Top End — through supporting schools with implementing KidsMatter, keeping a focus on mental health and wellbeing in schools and delivering mental health support to children and families in school settings.
We caught up with Director of the poll, paediatrician Dr Anthea Rhodes, to find out
how health and community professionals can support parents to better understand their children's social and emotional health:
We also have a Catalogue for health and community professionals [616KB], with all the KidsMatter resources, tools and information we have on offer, and a Health and community brochure [470KB] which explains how KidsMatter links in with health and community services.
Health and community professionals like psychologists, counsellors and social workers can play a positive role in supporting children from diverse cultural backgrounds and make a positive difference to their mental health and wellbeing.
It is very important that
health and community professionals don't shame a child, their family or community because it can prevent them from seeking and receiving support when they need it.
Health and community professionals not only provide assistance to families, early childhood services and schools to support children with ASD engage and connect with school, but can also offer support and intervention outside the education setting.
Part of our work at KidsMatter is to
encourage health and community professionals to reach out to early childhood services (and primary schools) to equip them with knowledge and processes that can help promote great mental health in childhood.
To step into working collaboratively with
health and community professionals think about how they might support your service to explore your current KidsMatter component and undertake the related professional learning topics.
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services can engage
health and community professionals at any stage of implementing KidsMatter; their input will be valuable during any part of the KidsMatter journey.
It's important for
health and community professionals who work with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities to ensure they create safe, inclusive and responsive places for children from all cultural backgrounds.
Health and community professionals play an essential role in working with and promoting collaboration between families, early childhood services and schools in building a tailored individual plan.
When
health and community professionals are interculturally responsive they are able to use attributes such as values, beliefs, understandings, skills and knowledge to appreciate the perspectives of others and work towards inclusion in culturally sensitive ways.
This KidsMatter webinar, suitable for viewing
by health and community professionals and early childhood educators, focussed on supporting infants and toddlers with anxiety and was facilitated by psychologist Lisa Sheen.
The Catalogue for health and community professionals [616KB] provides a useful «at a glance» reference list of KidsMatter resources you might find useful in your work with children and families.