MCRRH Mental Health Project
Sharon Varela
- Senior Academic Lead, Mental Health
- sharon.varela@jcu.edu.au
Translating mental health peer support into practice for consumers in rural and regional emergency departments: feasibility and pilot testing
Funded by Medibank Private to evaluate placing embedding workers with lived experience into resource-constrained rural hospital emergency settings.
ConnectED: Avoiding unnecessary ED presentations for people with mental illness
Avoiding unnecessary ED presentations for people with mental illness. HCF Research Foundation, Health Services Research Grants. Awarded 2025, $340,840 excluding GST over three years from January 2026. Chief investigator Associate Professor Kevin Mc Namara. Evaluates the ConnectED lived and living experience peer worker model in rural emergency departments.
Leveraging NQ telehealth experience for contextually informed process guidelines to optimise health service access, quality and safety in rural and remote Australia (NQ Telehealth Project)
To optimise the quality (including accessibility) and safety (including cultural safety) of health care for rural, remote and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations in NQ by optimising the use of telehealth as part of health care delivery.
Co-designed sleep health program to achieve better sleep and improved mental health symptoms in Indigenous adolescents
The overarching goal of the Let’s Yarn About Sleep project is to co-design, deliver, and co-evaluate a sleep health program for First Nations adolescents in remote Australia. The specific objectives of this project are to:
1) Co-create a sleep health program for First Nations adolescents
2) Train and upskill Aboriginal Youth Workers (AYWs) as “Sleep Coaches” to deliver the program.
3) Evaluate the program's acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness in improving First Nations adolescents' sleep health and SEWB.
Supporting Provisional Psychologists to Practice - Stream 2
Mental Health Program - Addressing Critical Psychology Shortages – Supporting Provisional Psychologists to Practice Grant (GO6626). $1,179,686 including GST, 2023 to 2027. Funds 300 full supervisor training places and 160 masterclass places nationally, with additional places awarded by the Department across the final two years.
Supervisor experiences of psychology skills required for rural and remote practice
The aim of this research was to gain a broader understanding of the skill needs of supervisors providing board
approved supervision to rural and remote psychologists from the perspective of new and experienced
supervisors and to evaluate the efficacy of curriculum developed to address rural and remote as a
competency.
Publications
Varela, S. M., Hays, C., Knight, S., & Hays, R. (2021). Models of remote professional supervision
for psychologists in rural and remote locations: A systematic review. Australian Journal of Rural
Health, 29(2), 211-225.
Varela, S. M, Jones, S., Schlicht, K., Aniftos, M, Varela, A. J., Foley, C., & Felton-Busch, C. (unpublished – ready for submission). Perspectives of Experienced Supervisors: How Can We Better Support the Rural and Remote Psychology Workforce?
Varela, S. M, Jones, S., Schlicht, K., Aniftos, M, Varela, A. J., Foley, C., & Felton-Busch, C. (paper being developed). The Development of a Rural and Remote Curriculum for Supervision
Varela, S. M, Jones, S., Schlicht, K., Aniftos, M, Varela, A. J., Foley, C., & Felton-Busch, C. (paper being developed). Rural and Remote Supervision as a Competency: Training Outcomes
Conference presentations:
1. Varela, S. M. (2023, 9 November). Supporting the Rural and Remote Psychology Workforce: Perspectives of Experienced Supervisors. Rural Mental Health Conference, Albury, NSW.
2. Varela, S. M. & Jones, S. (2023, 12 July). Strengthening the Rural/Remote Allied Health Workforce. 11th Biennial "Are You Remotely Interested...?" Conference. MCRRH, JCU, Mount Isa.
3. Varela, S. M. (2020, 1 October). Remote clinical supervision for psychologists located in
geographically rural and remote locations. "Are You Remotely Interested...?" 2020 Virtual Conference. MCRRH, JCU, Mount Isa.
4. Varela, S. M. (2020, 25 May). Professional Supervisor Training Needs for the Rural and Remote Psychology Workforce. 7th Rural and Remote Health Scientific Symposium (Virtual Pre-Symposium). National Rural Health Alliance, Canberra.
Evaluation of patient outcomes from the Western Queensland Primary Health Network (WQPHN) Mental Health Collaborative
The purpose of this evaluation is to determine the association of implementation of the mental health collaborative with changes in client outcomes (particularly overall wellbeing and functioning) over a 12 month period.
Health Workforce Program: Expansion of the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program in More Remote Settings
Expansion of the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program in More Remote Settings in Victoria, University of Melbourne (UDRH) — Mental Health and Wellbeing for Remote and Aboriginal Victorians
ConnectED: Translating mental health peer support into practice for consumers in rural and regional emergency departments
Translating mental health peer support into practice for consumers in rural and regional emergency departments, feasibility and pilot testing. Listed publicly by the funder as Embedding peer support in rural emergency departments. Medibank Better Health Foundation, now the Medibank Better Health Research Hub. Chief investigator Associate Professor Kevin Mc Namara at Deakin, with twenty co-investigators across eight organisations: Deakin, Grampians Health, the University of Melbourne, La Trobe, the University of Tasmania, Monash, Northern Health and Western Alliance.
Research Governance Framework WQPHN
As per the Short Form Agreement (CON-SFA248-24-25B): "an underspend amount of $89,131.06 to carry forward from CON-PRJ248-1A, to be used for the term of this Agreement". As part of this Agreement, we will:
1. Develop a Research Governance Framework for WQPHN, for use with internal and external stakeholders.
2. Establish a Working Group with WQPHN Staff and Murtupuni Centre for Rural and Remote Health Staff to progress the development of the framework.
3. Complete the Research Governance Framework documentation including recommendations, draft policies, procedures and template documents.
Resilience in sport: the development of a resilience program for young athletes
- 2017
- Researchers:Sharon Varela
Promoting positive development: coaches as trainers in sports‐based resilience programs
- 2020
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Researchers:Sharon Varela
Reviewing the experiences of maternal guilt – the "motherhood myth" influence
- 2021
- Taylor & Francis
- Researchers:Sharon Varela
Models of remote professional supervision for psychologists in rural and remote locations: a systematic review
- 2021
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Researchers:Sharon VarelaCatherine SeatonRichard Hays
Impact of sleep on educational outcome of Indigenous Australian children: A systematic review
- 2024
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Researchers:Sharon VarelaAlice Cairns
The Murtupuni Statement on rural generalist professional practice in Australia
- 2024
- Australian Rural Health Education Network
- Researchers:Alice CairnsVanessa SparkeSharon Varela
Start Date:
01 Jan 2016
End Date:
01 Jan 2022
Start Date:
01 Jan 2021
End Date:
01 Jan 2021
Start Date:
01 Jan 2019
End Date:
01 Jan 2019
Start Date:
01 Jan 2019
End Date:
01 Jan 2019
Start Date:
01 Jan 2011
End Date:
01 Jan 2011
Start Date:
01 Jan 2016
Start Date:
01 Jan 2006
Start Date:
01 Jan 2016
Title:
Research Excellence Award
Start Date:
01 Jan 2021
Start Date:
01 Jan 2024