Holding infants in mind: Building workforce capacity through a champions approach

Early relationships underpin infant mental health and lifelong wellbeing. Research from the Australian Government’s National Mental Health Commission indicates that 8% of infants under one year of age have five or more risk factors for subsequent mental illness.1  

Developing and sustaining a skilled workforce is vital to giving infants the strongest foundation for their future. But Emerging Minds’ 2023 National Workforce Survey for Child, Parent and Family Mental Health indicated that workers rate themselves as having lower competency in infant mental health compared to other areas of mental health support. 

In this episode, host Kathy Moar speaks with Vicky Gilroy, Director of Innovation and Research at the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV), about the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions Programme. This workforce development initiative emphasises leadership backing, organisational investment and reflective supervision to strengthen practitioner skills and confidence.

• Listen now to learn more about the importance of infant mental health and what it means to take a champions approach to workforce development. 

• Check out the six free online courses in our Infant mental health learning pathway. 

In this episode, you will learn about: 

• the importance of infant mental health (5:11) 

• key components of a champions model of workforce development (9:09) 

• the role of organisations and leaders in building workforce capacity and supporting practitioners’ professional development (11:24) 

• how we know that the champions model is effective. (17:23) 

This episode is part of a new series of Emerging Minds podcasts and webinars exploring ways to build and support the infant mental health workforce. 

*Note: Vicky’s visit to Adelaide was sponsored by the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (SA Branch), with a focus on workforce development and advocacy. 

Further information and resources:  

• Transforming perinatal and infant mental health: A mixed-methods evaluation of the iHV Champions Programme  

• Australian Association for Infant Mental Health website 

References 

1 National Mental Health Commission. (2023). The National Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy Report. Australian Government.