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Presentation starts at 19:40

Dr Charlene Rapsey is a clinical psychologist and lecturer in the Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago.  Dr Rapsey’s research interests include mental disorder, childhood adversity, sexual health and sexual difficulties. She uses quantitative and mixed methods and has a particular interest in applied research. Whilst in practice, Dr Rapsey has worked as an ACC approved clinical psychologist with incarcerated men who were victims of sexual abuse.  This work also included working with those where the abuse occurred in state care and she brings an understanding of the issues faced by survivors of abuse in care.

Her current research projects at the time of the hearing included:

• Psychiatric epidemiology - The WHO World Mental Health Surveys project is a unique international collaboration with over 30 countries focused on epidemiology and the prevention of mental disorder.

• Childhood aversity - The Otago Women’s Health Study, a 25-year longitudinal study investigating associations between childhood abuse and outcomes across the life course.

• The Foster the Whanau project - investigates the costs, benefits, and long-term outcomes for children when the mother participates in an intensive, residential intervention as an alternative to foster care.

Dr Rapsey drew on her areas of expertise to provide local context on:

• The effects, individualised and wider, of all forms of maltreatment of children, and all forms of abuse;

• Effects and risks where maltreatment occurs in State care;

• Foster care outcomes and alternatives to foster care within the New Zealand context.