Denise Meuldijk

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and a registered provisional Psychologist. I completed my PhD at the Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) at the Leiden University (Leiden, The Netherlands). My PhD research (Doing More With Less) focused on the evaluation of several brief interventions in the treatment of psychiatric outpatients with anxiety/depressive disorders in multiple mental health settings in the Netherlands. The completion of my PhD was followed by a two year postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Wollongong, Australia. As part of the Project Air Strategy for Personality Disorders research team, I conducted research on new models of care for the treatment of personality disorders, and provided consultation and training to health professionals in evidence- based care for these disorders within the Australian public mental health system. My current research at Macquarie University with the Centre for Emotional Health focuses on the treatment of anxiety and depression in older adults, evaluating the efficacy of stepped care models in older mental health services.

My research interests include real- world driven research with a special focus on assessing (cost) effectiveness and acceptability of treatment interventions and treatment outcomes in wider clinical practice and investigating the role of psychological and biological factors in causing, maintaining and overcoming mental illness. I am experienced in conducting multicentre randomised controlled trials on prevention and psychological treatments in common mental disorders, especially anxiety and depressive disorders. I have a particular interest increasing access to mental health care services by the development and implementation of stepped care treatments in different formats, thereby supporting and addressing the needs of more- vulnerable or hard to reach populations, such as elderly and clients with more challenging presentations. Furthermore, I am interested in improving the accessibility of scientific research to health professionals, carers and consumers by the development and actualisation of diagnostic and treatment protocols.

As a researcher at Macquarie University I am furthermore responsible for coordinating consumer focus groups at the Centre for Emotional Health, aimed at collecting consumer feedback on current research projects at the Centre for Emotional Health, but also to talk to the general public and consumers about mental health prevention/diagnosis and treatment options.