The IAR Guidance and Decision Support Tool (IAR-DST) is an Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care initiative.

The IAR-DST provides support to clinicians regarding how to respond to people when they first ask for mental health support in primary care settings. It guides clinicians in considering what information should be collected during a mental health assessment to determine the appropriate level of care someone might require (assessment) to what the appropriate interventions and services might be to match these needs (referral).

The workshop will focus on:

1. Introduction to IAR and the development of the National Guidance.
2. Orientation to the 8 holistic assessment domains, the 5 levels of care within a stepped care approach and the decision support tool.
3. Clinical judgement and supported decision-making.
4. Application of the IAR in referral, assessment, and intake settings (practical activity using vignettes).

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify the principles underpinning the national approach to stepped care.
• Describe the IAR development process.
• Implement the IAR Guidance in practice settings, using the domains and the decision support tool to generate a recommended level of care.
• Describe the levels of care and can determine regional services matched against the levels of care.
• Identify the principles related to clinical decision making and consumer choice, and can practice following these principles using supported decision-making strategies.

This activity is approved by RACGP for the following CPD activity types:

Upon completing training, GPs and GP registrars are eligible to receive a one-off incentive payment of $300 (GST excl.)* GCPHN will contact you on the email used to register for training once completed to provide local information and an invoice template.

*Payment is not available for other medical staff or clinicians. Payment not available for GPs already paid for their time by a Commonwealth funded service (e.g Adult Mental Health Centre, Aboriginal Medical Service) unless GP is attending training outside of their paid employment hours.