PhD Confirmation Seminar Shurong Lu

Cultural adaptation of Mental Health First Aid for China

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a course that trains members of the public to assist someone who is developing a mental illness and/or in a mental health crisis. Evidence from high-income countries suggests that this programme is effective in improving mental health knowledge and promoting help-seeking behaviours, but no such evidence is available in China yet. This doctoral research project involves (a) a scoping review to map mental health literary in China, (b) two Delphi surveys to redevelop MHFA guidelines for depression and suicide; and, (c) a qualitative study to identify the implementation models of MHFA in China.

Shurong Lu is a China-trained epidemiologist who has over a decade of experience in surveillance of chronic disease and behavioural risk factors. Shurong studied at the Emory University in the USA as a visiting scholar in 2014 and worked at the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services for training during 2015-6. She has also been actively involved in several international programmes, including the localisation of the WHO STEPwise approach in China, the World Cancer Foundation project of breast cancer, and the joint workforce training programme of Jiangsu and America CDC.

Supervisors:
Prof. Brian Oldenburg
A/Prof. Nicola Reavley
Dr. Yanling He