Dr Lillian Ng is a RANZCP Fellow and Senior Lecturer and Forensic Psychiatrist at The University of Auckland. Dr Ng was awarded the 2024 RANZCP Foundation Catalyst Grant.

Project: The 100-women study: health characteristics of women with severe mental illness

The 100-women study examines health characteristics of women with severe mental illness under the care of community mental health services. It identifies features of their mental and physical health that foreshadow their presentations to mental health services. Women with a severe mental illness who are mothers carry additional burdens of illness as intergenerational effects of poor maternal mental health influence and shape the lives of children.

This exploratory study will provide evidence to understand health determinants, outcomes, and interventions linked to mental illness, adverse childhood experiences, socio-economic status and barriers to accessing health care in Aotearoa New Zealand. It yields important information about women’s life experiences, context, and treatment preferences, in providing trauma-informed care.

The Foundation Catalyst Grants give psychiatrist researchers at any career stage access to small-scale funds to assist them in preparing a pilot or proof of concept for a future study. These grants help researchers take their projects and proposals beyond an idea, to a point of readiness to apply for larger funding.