Betty Kitchener
Betty Ann Kitchener (born 31 May 1951) is an Australian mental health educator who founded mental health first aid training.[1]
Career
Betty Kitchener trained as a teacher, counsellor and nurse.[1][2] She is also a mental health consumer advocate, having experienced recurrent major depression.[2] She has held academic appointments at the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne.[3][4]
Role in Mental Health First Aid
In 2001, she founded Mental Health First Aid training in Canberra, together with her husband Anthony Jorm, who is a mental health researcher.[2] Mental Health First Aid is a 12-hour face-to-face training program for members of the public to learn how to provide initial assistance to someone developing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis (e.g. they are suicidal).[5] This program spread across Australia and by 2011 over 170,000 Australian adults had received the training (1% of the country’s adult population).[6] The training has been adapted to various cultural groups in Australia, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,[7] Vietnamese Australians [8] and Chinese Australians.[9] The training program has spread to many other countries, including Canada, China, Finland, Hong Kong, Japan, Nepal, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States.[6]
Awards
Betty Kitchener has received many awards for her work on Mental Health First Aid, including:
- Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research Consumer Researcher Award, 2004.[10]
- Order of Australia Medal (OAM), 2008.[11]
- Excellence in Mental Health Education, National Council of Behavioral Healthcare, USA, 2008.[12]
- Exceptional Contribution to Mental Health Services Award, TheMHS, 2009.[1]
- Australian Rotary Health Knowledge Dissemination Award, 2010.[10]
- Induction to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women, 2011.[1]
Publications
Some of her publications are the following:
- Kitchener, B.A. & Jorm, A.F. (2002). Mental Health First Aid Manual. Canberra: Centre for Mental Health Research.
- Kitchener, B.A. & Jorm, A.F. (2002). Mental health first aid training for the public: evaluation of effects on knowledge, attitudes and helping behavior. BMC Psychiatry, 2, 10.
- Kitchener, B.A. & Jorm, A.F. (2007). Youth Mental Health First Aid: A Manual for Adults Assisting Youth. Melbourne: ORYGEN Research Centre.
- Kitchener, B.A., Jorm, A.F. & Kelly, C.M. (2010). Mental Health First Aid Manual (Second edition). Melbourne: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre.
- Kelly, C.M., Kitchener, B.A. & Jorm, A.F. (2010). Youth Mental Health First Aid: A Manual for Adults Assisting Young People (Second edition). Melbourne: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre.
- Hart, L.M., Kitchener, B.A., Jorm, A.F. & Kanowski, L.G. (2010). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health First Aid Manual (Second edition). Melbourne: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre.
- Kitchener, B.A. & Jorm, A.F. (2008). Mental health first aid: An international programme for early intervention. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 2, 55-61.
- Jorm, A.F. & Kitchener, B.A. (2011). Noting a landmark achievement: Mental Health First Aid training reaches 1% of Australian adults. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 45, 808-813.
References
- ^ a b c d Office of Women’s Policy, Department of Human Services. 2011 Victorian Honour Roll of Women. Melbourne, Victoria.
- ^ a b c Bidinost, M. (November 5, 2005). "Mental first aid". The Age. p. 31.
- ^ Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. "Media Notes. Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division". http://www.gg.gov.au/res/File/PDFs/honours/ad08/Media%20notes%20OAM%20%28F-L%29%20%28final%29-web.pdf/. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
- ^ University of Melbourne. "Find an Expert: Profiling the University of Melbourne’s Researchers". http://www.findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/researcher/person123061.html/. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
- ^ Kitchener, B.A. & Jorm, A.F. (2008). Mental health first aid: An international programme for early intervention. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 2, 55-61.
- ^ a b Jorm, A.F. & Kitchener, B.A. (2011). Noting a landmark achievement: Mental Health First Aid training reaches 1% of Australian adults. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 45, 808-813.
- ^ Kanowski, L.G., Jorm, A.F. & Hart, L.M. (2009). A mental health first aid training program for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: description and initial evaluation. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 3, 10.
- ^ Minas, H., Colucci, E. & Jorm, A.F. (2009). Evaluation of Mental Health First Aid training with members of the Vietnamese community in Melbourne, Australia. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 3, 19.
- ^ Lam, A.Y.K., Jorm, A.F. & Wong, D.F.K. (2010). Mental health first aid training for the Chinese community in Melbourne, Australia: effects on knowledge about and attitudes toward people with mental illness. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 4, 18.
- ^ a b Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research. "Previous Award Recipients". http://www.aspr.org.au/prev_awards.php/. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
- ^ Australian Government. "It’s An Honour: Australia Celebrating Australians". http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1137684&search_type=quick&showInd=true/. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
- ^ National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. "2008 Awards of Excellence". http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/galleries/membership-files/Awards%20Program%2008%20Final.pdf/. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
External links
Persondata |
Name |
Kitchener, Betty |
Alternative names |
|
Short description |
Australian mental health educator |
Date of birth |
31 May 1951 |
Place of birth |
Sydney, New South Wales |
Date of death |
|
Place of death |
|