HPAT Roles

HPAT Roles and Responsibilities

Committee

The roles and responsibilities of the Healthcare Professional Advisory Team Committee (HPAT Comm) are:

• To provide leadership to the HPAT Workgroup
  
• To establish the guidelines for the online Healthcare Professional Community Forum
  
• To assist in the evaluation of the Online Care Forum culture
  
• To participate in relevant projects such as the Content Review Project and evaluation of the 'Treatments' section, and the 'Research Projects' (currently being investigated)
  
• To review activities and performance of the HPAT, including Terms of Reference and scope

The Healthcare Professional Advisory Team Committee shall be comprised of qualified representatives from each of the following disciplines:

1.   Psychology
2.   Psychiatry
3.   Counselling and Psychotherapy
4.   Pharmacology
5.   Medicine
6.   Holistic Medicine
7.   Social Work 
8.   Hypnotherapy
9.   Naturopathy
10. Nutrition
11. Acupuncture
12. Traditional Chinese Medicine
13. Kinesiology
14. Homeopathy
15. Massage Therapy
16. Yoga, Chi Cong, Tai Chi, Exercise and Movement Therapies

The Committee may include areas such as other holistic and conventional therapies, nursing, social work, and community health practitioners. (Given there are many fields that could be involved, one member may represent multiple disciplines where appropriate. For example it is possible to have a naturopath that is qualified in massage and nutrition, an acupuncturist that does TCM and Tai Chi etc).

Potential applicants must be reliable and be able to commit regular periods of time to the team.

Expected time commitment: 4 hours per month
Communication will be primarily via email, Skype, the HCP forum (when complete), video conferencing and conference calls when required.

Workgroup

The roles and responsibilities of the Healthcare Professional Advisory Team Workgroup (HPAT Workgroup) are:

• To review content on the www.depressioNet.com.au internet site according to the depressioNet Content Review Process (to be developed)
  
• To identify potential new content for inclusion in the website as well as areas for improvement
  
• To provide support for the depressioNet Online Care Team where appropriate, such as actively participating in the chatrooms or providing debriefing support
  
• To provide support to the HPAT Committee if/when required
  
• To participate in special projects by individual agreement
  
• Other terms of reference as recommended and approved by the Committee

The Healthcare Professional Advisory Workgroup shall be comprised of:

• Healthcare professionals who are registered members of depressioNet
  
• Those who meet the General Selection Criteria
  
• Expected time commitment: based on individual availability

Student

The roles and responsibilities of the Healthcare Professional Advisory Team Students (HPAT Students) are:

• To provide research assistance to HPAT
  
• To write website content as supervised by HPAT

The Healthcare Professional Advisory Team Students shall be comprised of:

• Students who are able to research and write website content
  
• Students who come from reputable colleges and have a strong interest in helping people with depression

Further criteria for student selection will be developed in coming months. These roles will be filled once the other levels of HPAT have been established.