A/Professor Brigid Jordan

contact details

  Associate Professor Brigid Jordan
  Social and Mental Health Aspects of Serious Illness
  Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
  Royal Children's Hospital
  Flemington Road
  Parkville Victoria 3052

  T   +61 3 9345 4144
  F   +61 3 9345 6667
  E  brigid.jordan@rch.org.au

biography

Brigid Jordan is Associate Professor of Paediatric Social Work (Infant and Family) at the Royal Children's Hospital and an Honorary Principal Fellow in the Department of Paediatrics at The University of Melbourne.  Her position is supported by a grant from Australian Communities Foundation.

Brigid has over 20 years experience as a social worker and infant mental health clinician at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital. Brigid, together with colleagues, established the Graduate Diploma and Masters courses in Infant and Parent Mental Health offered through The University of Melbourne. She is a Past President of the National Australian Association for Infant Mental Health and has served two terms on the the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the World Association for Infant Mental Health.

achievements

In 2008 Brigid was awarded the World Association for Infant Mental Health Affiliates Award in recognition of her significant contribution to the field of infant mental health.

research focus & interest

The Social and Mental Health Aspects of Serious Illness Group was formed in 2005 by the amalgamation of two clinical research groups - one from the Infant Mental Health Program at the Royal Children's Hospital and the other from the Social Work Department. Since then other clinicians and researchers have joined this group which focuses on practice-based research addressing the psychosocial aspects of acute and chronic paediatric illness.

The intended outcomes of our research are:

• to develop a better understanding of the impact of infants' emotional life and relationships on development
• to develop an evidence base of the psychological and social experience of hospital patients and their families
• the development of evidence-based innovative clinical interventions for infant emotional and relationship problems especially within the paediatric health setting
• to translate knowledge into effective Social Work clinical practice interventions to assist patients and their families
• ensuring clinical care in hospital and other health and welfare settings supports infants', children's and adolescents' healthy emotional and social development and relationships

The main focus of infant mental health research is on the emotional and social development of infants within the context of family relationships, particularly in relation to babies who present to paediatric settings with feeding and crying problems and those coping with severe medical illness and /or trauma.

A particular interest within the research group is marginalized or socially excluded patients and their families, including the experience of fathers and the role of social and cultural factors in the experience of patients with serious illness.