Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry (3DN)

Carmela Salomon is a 3DN Project Officer working on a range of initiatives to support responsible psychotropic prescribing and cardiometabolic health in people with an intellectual disability. Her PhD research (completed in 2014) explored mental health consumer experiences of antipsychotic discontinuation. Antipsychotic discontinuation is associated with a number of potential side effects including sleep disruption and other physical, cognitive, emotional and psychotic withdrawal syndromes. As well as collecting novel first person characterisations of these syndromes, her research  focused on identifying coping strategies and suggestions for mental health service change from people with lived experience of medication discontinuation. In addition to a PhD in Health Sciences, she holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Advanced Mental Health Nursing and a Bachelor of Nursing Science. Carmela has clinical experience in community and inpatient mental health settings and is passionate about increasing consumer input in mental health research and system management.

Research interests: Psychotropic prescribing in people with intellectual disability, antipsychotic withdrawal syndromes, cardiometabolic health of people with intellectual disabilities, mental health consumer involvement in healthcare research and service delivery.  health communication.

Broad research areas: Intellectual Disability/Mental Health.

Qualifications: PhD (UoM); PGrad Dip Advanced Clinical Nursing- Mental Health (UoM); Bachelor of Nursing Science (JCU)