Betty Kitchener

Betty Kitchener AM
Born Betty Ann Kitchener
1951
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Residence Melbourne
Nationality Australian
Education University of New South Wales; University of Canberra
Known for Educator, mental health consumer advocate
Spouse(s) Anthony Jorm
Children Two
Website

Betty Ann Kitchener AM (born 1951[1]) is an Australian mental health educator who founded mental health first aid training.[2][3]

Career

Betty Kitchener trained as a teacher, counsellor and nurse.[2][4] She is also a mental health consumer advocate, having experienced recurrent major depression.[4] She has held academic appointments at the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne.[5][6] She is currently CEO of Mental Health First Aid Australia.[7] She holds an honorary Adjunct Professorship at Deakin University.[8]

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.[3][4] 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).[9] This program spread across Australia and by 2011 over 170,000 Australian adults had received the training (1% of the country’s adult population).[10] By 2015, this had reached 350,000.[11] The training has been adapted to various cultural groups in Australia, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,[12] Vietnamese Australians [13] and Chinese Australians.[14] The training program has spread to many other countries, including Canada, China, Denmark, England, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Nepal, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, the United States, and Wales.[10][15]

Awards and Honours

Betty Kitchener has received many awards and honours for her work on Mental Health First Aid, including:

Publications

Some of her publications are the following:

References

  1. ↑ Australia Day. "Australian of the Year Awards". Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Office of Women’s Policy, Department of Human Services. 2011 Victorian Honour Roll of Women. Melbourne, Victoria.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kitchener, B. & Jorm, T. (2013). In the beginning: Mental Health First Aid is born in Australia. National Council Magazine, Issue 1, 26..
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Bidinost, M. (November 5, 2005). "Mental first aid". The Age. p. 31.
  5. ↑ Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. "Media Notes. Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division". Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  6. ↑ University of Melbourne. "Find an Expert: Profiling the University of Melbourne’s Researchers". Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  7. ↑ Mental Health First Aid Australia. "Our Team". Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  8. ↑ Deakin University. "Directory of staff". Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  9. ↑ Kitchener, B.A. & Jorm, A.F. (2008). Mental health first aid: An international programme for early intervention. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 2, 55-61.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 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.
  11. ↑ University of Canberra. "Alumni profiles". Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ Mental Health First Aid International Newsletter, November 2012. http://www.mhfa.com.au/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/MHFA-I-Newsletter-Nov-12-web.pdf
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research. "Previous Award Recipients". Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  17. ↑ Australian Government. "It’s An Honour: Australia Celebrating Australians". Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  18. ↑ National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. "2008 Awards of Excellence". Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  19. ↑ Mental Health Commission of Canada. "Canada's Political Leaders Take a Lesson in Mental Health". Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  20. ↑ National Australia Day Council. "Honour Roll". Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  21. ↑ Australian Financial Review. "Australia's 100 Women of Influence". Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  22. ↑ "Member (AM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division" (pdf). Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia. 26 January 2015. p. 52. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  23. ↑ Department of Premier and Cabinet. "Australia Day Victoria". Retrieved 27 January 2015.

External links