WebsiteWatch

RESOURCES FOR YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS

The new National Youth Mental Health Foundation got off the ground with the July 18 launch of the headspace website http:// www.headspace.org.au. Headspace aims to 'better coordinate and integrate the activities of mental health services, general practitioners, drug and alcohol services and vocational support to try to prevent young people falling through the gaps'.

Of particular interest to readers, will be the upcoming funding for the implementation of Communities of Youth Services through the Youth Services Development Fund grants (www.headspace.org.au/default.aspx?page=grants). These communities will bring together a range of health, education and vocational welfare service providers to enhance existing, and develop new healthcare services for young people that are both better coordinated and more engaging than those currently available.

Organisations developing funding proposals and/or planning services in this area, may find the following websites useful:

• The MindMatters Plus section of the Australian Divisions of General Practice website (http://www.adgp.com.au and follow the links) provides links to resources for a variety of stakeholders including Divisions, GPs, schools, parents and youth. Their resource library includes articles, fact sheets, guidelines etc.
• The Auseinet http://auseinet.flinders.edu.au/ website provides access to publications, (both external and produced by Auseinet), fact sheets and media reports.
• The Primary mental health care Australian Resource Centre http://www.parc.net.au/youth_home.htm has put together resources to support program development in youth mental health. These pages include examples of current and previous programs, information on improving youth access to mental health care, links to statistical and epidemiological information, and other useful tools and ideas for individuals or organisations developing programs and projects with a focus in this area.

EVALUATION RESOURCES ON THE NET

(from the newsletter of the Australasian Evaluation Society)

An impressive list of 'newslists' from around the world can be found on the Canadian Evaluation Society website. http://www.evaluationcanada.ca/site.cgi?s=6&ss=4&_lang=en. Topics covered by the newslists include Evaluation, Quantitative Research Methods, Ethics, Methodology of on-line research and Mental health.

QUALITY OF LIFE

The Australian Centre on Quality of Life is an interdisciplinary centre with Deakin University http://acqol.deakin.edu.au/index.htm. The website is an excellent source of all the information you could think of about quality of life - current projects, data sites, a very extensive bibliography, events, publications including conference proceedings, and instruments.