Posted on February 16, 2010

The Australian government has taken notice of the impact depression can have on children. As a result, it is funding a new depression prevention program for children aged one to seven.

A recent news post highlighted the launch of the KidsMatter early childhood program at Monmia Primary School. The focus of this new program was a shock to Jeff Kennet, chairman of the depression awareness group Beyondblue.

“I can’t express the shock I got when at a board meeting of Beyondblue … our officers said ‘we’re now going to start doing some science among children aged one to seven years of age’,” Mr. Kennett said, in the Australian News. The chairman now admits the program will result in internationally groundbreaking work.

The $18.7 million in federal funding was announced by Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon. She referred to this program as the government’s efforts to look at the health system at the start instead of at the end.

“What we can do earlier in the system so that instead of picking up the pieces when things get really bad, we’re giving young children and others the tools to manage their lives into the future,” said Roxon.

The KidsMatter program will put mental health in the weekly school curriculum, train teachers and inform parents on how to help children learn to deal with setbacks, talk about them with their children and develop resilience in order to keep depression at bay.

According to Roxon, the program will not focus any of its efforts on screening children for depression or to determine the number of children involved in the program who might have depression-type problems.

If successful, this program could lay the groundwork for similar programs throughout the world.