People with lived experience must be supported to nurture their health and prevent illness.
This section of the guideline frames the physical health care of people with lived experience of mental illness as everyone’s business. A whole of health approach is to be taken to illness prevention and health promotion.
Effective promotion, prevention and early intervention activities help to prevent the onset or development of illness, reduce disease severity, duration and impact.
Routine and opportunistic physical health screening is a key activity.
Areas of action:
This page provides resources to support physical health screening and assessment.
My Medicines and Me Questionnaire (M3Q)A self-report questionnaire for the assessment of psychotropic medication side effects.Publication type: Assessment toolPublished by: Office of the Chief Psychiatrist of Western Australia, University of Western Australia
NSW Health Metabolic Monitoring FormsThe NSW Health metabolic monitoring module provides a structured format to support the monitoring of consumers identified as having, or being at risk of, metabolic syndrome.Publication Type: Information bulletinProduced by: NSW Health
Physical assessment of patients presenting to emergency department with a primary mental health problemA literature review to establish current evidence relating to the physical assessment of patients with a primary mental health problem presenting to ED.Publication type: Website and articlesPublished by: Whole of Health Program, NSW Health
ASSIST – Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening TestAn eight-item questionnaire designed to screen for substance use across several domains.Publication type: Screening toolPublished by: WHO
AUDIT-C for alcohol use Identifies at-risk drinkers (such as binge-drinking) who may not be alcohol-dependent using a three-question scoring system. Publication type: Screening tool Published by: Unknown
AUSDRISK tool Australian Type 2 diabetes risk assessment tool that provides an estimate of risk of developing type 2 diabetes within five years.Publication type: Screening tool Published by: Australian Department of Health
Falls risk for Older People in the community (FROP-Com) Validated three-point screening tool using both subjective and objective measures.Publication type: Screening toolPublished by: NARI
Health Improvement Profile A one-page form to assess the service user’s physical health needs. Adapted from the UK model to meet Australian public mental health service standards. Publication Type: ArticleProduced by: Victoria Mental Health Services
SIMPAQ – Simple Physical Activity Questionnaire A five-item clinical tool for assessing key elements of physical activity participation among populations at high risk of sedentary behaviours, such as mental health settings. Publication type: Screening toolPublished by: Various
STI Testing Tool STI Testing Tool is a resource for GPs and other clinicians to support routine comprehensive testing for sexually transmissible infections (STIs).Publication type: Testing toolPublished by: NSW Health
STOP BANG QuestionnaireA tool that collects objective and subjective measures to screen people for obstructive sleep apnoea.Publication Type: Screening toolProduced by: Chung, et al.
Metabolic Syndrome Toolkit A practical toolkit to support Australian mental health clinicians to manage Metabolic Syndrome: A pilot study.Publication type: ArticleProduced by: Porter and Aggar
