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Associate Professor Susanna Every-Palmer, Head of Department of Psychological Medicine

Dr Susanna Every-Palmer 2019 thumbnailMBChB (Akld), MSc in Evidence-based Health Care (with Distinction, Oxon) FRANZCP, Adv Cert Forensic Psychiatry (RANZCP), PhD (Otago)

Susanna is an academic psychiatrist who is passionate about using multidisciplinary research collaborations to inform the highest quality evidence-based care for people with mental illness.

Alongside her role in the university, Susanna is concurrently employed at the Central Regional and Forensic Services. She has worked in a number of different areas across the mental health sector, including as Clinical Director and Director of Area Mental Health Services (DAMHS) of the Forensic and Rehabilitation Services covering courts, prisons and inpatient and community forensics across New Zealand’s lower north island and as New Zealand’s Acting Director of Mental Health at the Ministry of Health.

Susanna is the Chair of the New Zealand Committee of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.

Susanna obtained RANZCP Fellowship in 2008 and her Advanced Certificate in Forensic Psychiatry in 2010. She has a Masters in Evidence Based Medicine from Oxford University and her PhD focussed on mitigating harms in the treatment of serious mental illness.

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Contact details

Email susanna.every-palmer@otago.ac.nz

Positions

  • Head of Department, Department of Psychological Medicine
  • Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist, MHAIDs, 3DHB
  • Chair of the New Zealand Committee of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists – Tu Te Akaaka Roa
  • Board Director for the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists
  • Board Member of the Council of Medical Colleges
  • Associate Editor of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry

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Research summary

  • Mental health service development and co-design
  • Reducing health inequities in mental health care
  • Multidisciplinary management of serious mental illness

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Research interests

Susanna’s academic and clinical interests include

  • The effects of COVID-19 on population mental health
  • Mental health service development and co-design
  • Reducing health inequities in mental health care
  • Multidisciplinary management of serious mental illness
  • Antipsychotic treatment and its side effects, with a particular focus on clozapine
  • Forensic psychiatry: legal frameworks, prisons, and forensic rehabilitation

Susanna is interested in supervising postgraduate students in any of the research areas listed above or related areas. Please contact her directly

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Publications

Every-Palmer, S., Dunn, A., Foulds, J., Reuvecamp, I., & Dawson, J. (2022). Restricted patients in New Zealand: A failed social experiment with a hybrid form of civil/forensic compulsory mental health treatment. International Journal of Law & Psychiatry, 80, 101762. doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2021.101762

Handley, S., & Every-Palmer, S. (2021). Antipsychotic-Related Fatal Poisoning, England and Wales, 1993-2019: The Impact of Second-Generation Antipsychotics. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1097/jcp.0000000000001479

Every-Palmer, S., Kininmonth, L., Newton-Howes, G., & Gordon, S. (2021). Applying human rights and reducing coercion in psychiatry following service user-led education: A qualitative study. Health & Human Rights. Advance online publication. Retrieved from https://www.hhrjournal.org

Bell, C., Williman, J., Beaglehole, B., Stanley, J., Jenkins, M., Gendall, P., Rapsey, C., & Every-Palmer, S. (2021). Psychological distress, loneliness, alcohol use and suicidality in New Zealanders with mental illness during a strict COVID-19 lockdown. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/00048674211034317

Bell, C., Williman, J., Beaglehole, B., Stanley, J., Jenkins, M., Gendall, P., Rapsey, C., & Every-Palmer, S. (2021). Challenges facing essential workers: A cross-sectional survey of the subjective mental health and well-being of New Zealand healthcare and 'other' essential workers during the COVID-19 lockdown. BMJ Open, 11(7), e048107. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-048107

Every-Palmer, S., Dunn, A., Foulds, J., Reuvecamp, I., & Dawson, J. (2022). Restricted patients in New Zealand: A failed social experiment with a hybrid form of civil/forensic compulsory mental health treatment. International Journal of Law & Psychiatry, 80, 101762. doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2021.101762

Journal - Research Article

Bell, C., Williman, J., Beaglehole, B., Stanley, J., Jenkins, M., Gendall, P., Rapsey, C., & Every-Palmer, S. (2021). Challenges facing essential workers: A cross-sectional survey of the subjective mental health and well-being of New Zealand healthcare and 'other' essential workers during the COVID-19 lockdown. BMJ Open, 11(7), e048107. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-048107

Journal - Research Article

Bell, C., Williman, J., Beaglehole, B., Stanley, J., Jenkins, M., Gendall, P., Rapsey, C., & Every-Palmer, S. (2021). Psychological distress, loneliness, alcohol use and suicidality in New Zealanders with mental illness during a strict COVID-19 lockdown. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/00048674211034317

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., Cunningham, R., Jenkins, M., & Bell, E. (2021). The Christchurch mosque shooting, the media, and subsequent gun control reform in New Zealand: A descriptive analysis. Psychiatry, Psychology & Law, 28(2), 274-285. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2020.1770635

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., Kininmonth, L., Newton-Howes, G., & Gordon, S. (2021). Applying human rights and reducing coercion in psychiatry following service user-led education: A qualitative study. Health & Human Rights. Advance online publication. Retrieved from https://www.hhrjournal.org

Journal - Research Article

Handley, S., & Every-Palmer, S. (2021). Antipsychotic-Related Fatal Poisoning, England and Wales, 1993-2019: The Impact of Second-Generation Antipsychotics. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1097/jcp.0000000000001479

Journal - Research Article

Jenkin, G. L. S., McIntosh, J., & Every-Palmer, S. (2021). Fit for what purpose? Exploring bicultural frameworks for the architectural design of acute mental health facilities. International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health, 18(5), 2343. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052343

Journal - Research Article

Jenkins, M., Hoek, J., Jenkin, G., Gendall, P., Stanley, J., Beaglehole, B., Bell, C., Rapsey, C., & Every-Palmer, S. (2021). Silver linings of the COVID-19 lockdown in New Zealand. PLoS ONE, 16(4), e0249678. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249678

Journal - Research Article

Lyra, R. L. d., McKenzie, S. K., Every-Palmer, S., & Jenkin, G. (2021). Occupational exposure to suicide: A review of research on the experiences of mental health professionals and first responders. PLoS ONE, 16(4), e0251038. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251038

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., Inns, S. J., & Ellis, P. M. (2020). Constipation screening in people taking clozapine: A diagnostic accuracy study. Schizophrenia Research, 220, 179-186. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2020.03.032

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., Jenkins, M., Gendall, P., Hoek, J., Beaglehole, B., Bell, C., Williman, J., Rapsey, C., & Stanley, J. (2020). Psychological distress, anxiety, family violence, suicidality, and wellbeing in New Zealand during the COVID-19 lockdown: A cross-sectional study. PLoS ONE, 15(11), e0241658. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241658

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., Romans, S. E., Stubbs, R., Tomlinson, A., Gandhi, S., & Huthwaite, M. (2020). Experiences of weight-loss surgery in people with serious mental illness: A qualitative study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 419. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00419

Journal - Research Article

Cunningham, R., Poppe, K., Peterson, D., Every-Palmer, S., Soosay, I., & Jackson, R. (2019). Prediction of cardiovascular disease risk among people with severe mental illness: A cohort study. PLoS ONE, 14(9), e0221521. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221521

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., Inns, S. J., Grant, E., & Ellis, P. M. (2019). Effects of clozapine on the gut: Cross-sectional study of delayed gastric emptying and small and large intestinal dysmotility. CNS Drugs, 33, 81-91. doi: 10.1007/s40263-018-0587-4

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., Huthwaite, M. A., Elmslie, J. L., Grant, E., & Romans, S. E. (2018). Long-term psychiatric inpatients' perspectives on weight gain, body satisfaction, diet and physical activity: A mixed methods study. BMC Psychiatry, 18, 300. doi: 10.1186/s12888-018-1878-5

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., & Ellis, P. M. (2017). Clozapine-induced gastrointestinal hypomotility: A 22-year bi-national pharmacovigilance study of serious or fatal 'slow gut' reactions, and comparison with international drug safety advice. CNS Drugs, 31(8), 699-709. doi: 10.1007/s40263-017-0448-6

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., Ellis, P. M., Nowitz, M., Stanley, J., Grant, E., Huthwaite, M., & Dunn, H. (2017). The Porirua Protocol in the treatment of clozapine-induced gastrointestinal hypomotility and constipation: A pre- and post-treatment study. CNS Drugs, 31(1), 75-85. doi: 10.1007/s40263-016-0391-y

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., Lentle, R. G., Reynolds, G., Hulls, C., Chambers, P., Dunn, H., & Ellis, P. M. (2017). Spatiotemporal mapping techniques show clozapine impairs neurogenic and myogenic patterns of activity in the colon of the rabbit in a dose-dependent manner. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 8, 209. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00209

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., Newton-Howes, G., & Clarke, M. J. (2017). Pharmacological treatment for antipsychotic-related constipation (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 1, CD011128. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011128.pub2

Journal - Research Article

Huthwaite, M., Elmslie, J., Every-Palmer, S., Grant, E., & Romans, S. E. (2017). Obesity in a forensic and rehabilitation psychiatric service: A missed opportunity? Journal of Forensic Practice, 19(4), 269-277. doi: 10.1108/JFP-03-2017-0007

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., Nowitz, M., Stanley, J., Grant, E., Huthwaite, M., Dunn, H., & Ellis, P. M. (2016). Clozapine-treated patients have marked gastrointestinal hypomotility, the probable basis of life-threatening gastrointestinal complications: A cross sectional study. EBioMedicine, 5, 125-134. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2016.02.020

Journal - Research Article

Mellsop, G., Choi, W. K., Every-Palmer, S., Green, B., Heffernan, E., Kachaeva, M., … Wang, X. (2016). Drug driven psychoses and legal responsibility or insanity in six Western Pacific nations. International Journal of Law & Psychiatry, 47, 68-73. doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2016.02.037

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., Barry-Walsh, J., & Pathé, M. (2015). Harassment, stalking, threats and attacks targeting New Zealand politicians: A mental health issue. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 49(7), 634-641. doi: 10.1177/0004867415583700

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., & Howick, J. (2014). How evidence-based medicine is failing due to biased trials and selective publication. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 20(6), 908-914. doi: 10.1111/jep.12147

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S., Brink, J., Chern, T. P., Choi, W.-K., Hern-Yee, J. G., Green, B., … Mellsop, G. (2014). Review of psychiatric services to mentally disordered offenders around the Pacific Rim. Asia-Pacific Psychiatry, 6(1), 1-17. doi: 10.1111/appy.12109

Journal - Research Article

Every-Palmer, S. (2011). Synthetic cannabinoid JWH-018 and psychosis: An explorative study. Drug & Alcohol Dependence, 117(2-3), 152-157. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2011.01.012

Journal - Research Article

Palmer, S. E., McLean, R. M., Ellis, P. M., & Harrison-Woolrych, M. (2008). Life-threatening clozapine-induced gastrointestinal hypomotility: An analysis of 102 cases. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 69(5), 759-768.

Journal - Research Article

Estevez-Cordero, R. A., Morera-Herreras, T., Hernandez, R., Medrano, J., Every-Palmer, S., & Lertxundi, U. (2021). Prophylactic laxatives in clozapine-treated patients: A long road ahead [Brief report]. Archives of Clinical Psychiatry, 48(1), 66-68. doi: 10.15761/0101-60830000000280

Journal - Research Other

Every-Palmer, S. (2021). Understanding negative predictive values: Clozapine-treated people who do not complain of constipation probably still have slow gut. Schizophrenia Research, 230, 114. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2020.06.031

Journal - Research Other

Gendall, P., Hoek, J., Stanley, J., Jenkins, M., & Every-Palmer, S. (2021). Changes in tobacco use during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in New Zealand [Brief report]. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntaa257

Journal - Research Other

Lockett, H., Koning, A., Lacey, C., Every-Palmer, S., Scott, K. M., Cunningham, R., Dowell, T., Smith, L., Masters, A., … Chambers, S. (2021). Addressing structural discrimination: Prioritizing people with mental health and addiction issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. New Zealand Medical Journal, 134(1538), 128-134. Retrieved from https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal

Journal - Research Other

Every-Palmer, S., Romans, S., Law, A., Henry, J., Jenkins, M., & Lawrence, M. (2020). Choosing a career in psychiatry: Expect the unexpected. New Zealand Medical Student Journal, 30, 15-18. [Editorial].

Journal - Research Other

Flanagan, R. J., Lally, J., Gee, S., Lyons, R., & Every-Palmer, S. (2020). Clozapine in the treatment of refractory schizophrenia: A practical guide for healthcare professionals [Invited review]. British Medical Bulletin, 135, 73-89. doi: 10.1093/bmb/ldaa024

Journal - Research Other

Monasterio, E., Every-Palmer, S., Norris, J., Short, J., Pillai, K., Dean, P., & Foulds, J. (2020). Mentally ill people in our prisons are suffering human rights violations. New Zealand Medical Journal, 133(1511), 9-13. Retrieved from https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal

Journal - Research Other

Every-Palmer, S., Flewett, T., Dean, S., Hansby, O., Colman, A., Weatherall, M., & Bell, E. (2019). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in adults with serious mental illness within forensic and rehabilitation services: A study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials, 20, 642. doi: 10.1186/s13063-019-3760-2

Journal - Research Other

Every-Palmer, S., Ellis, P. M., Flanagan, R. J., & Baptista, T. (2017). Mild to moderate clozapine-induced gastrointestinal hypomotility should not require cessation of clozapine. General Hospital Psychiatry, 48, 72-73. doi: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2017.06.007

Journal - Research Other

Every-Palmer, S., McBride, S., Berry, H., & Menkes, D. B. (2016). Climate change and psychiatry. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 50(1), 16-18. doi: 10.1177/0004867415615946

Journal - Research Other

Every-Palmer, S., & Souter, V. (2015). Low vitamin D levels found in 95 % of psychiatric inpatients within a forensic service. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 49(4), 391-392. doi: 10.1177/0004867414562047

Journal - Research Other

Every-Palmer, S., Duggal, R., & Menkes, D. B. (2014). Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medication in New Zealand. New Zealand Medical Journal, 127(1401), 102-110. Retrieved from https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal

Journal - Research Other

Every-Palmer, S., Newton-Howes, G., & Clarke, M. J. (2014). Pharmacological treatment for antipsychotic-related constipation (Protocol). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (5), CD011128. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011128

Journal - Research Other

Every-Palmer, S., & Norris, J. (2013). Not guilty by reason of epilepsy: Post-ictal delirium and psychosis resulting in violent offending. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 47(10), 961-962. doi: 10.1177/0004867413479409

Journal - Research Other

Every-Palmer, S. (2010). Warning: Legal synthetic cannabinoid-receptor agonists such as JWH-018 may precipitate psychosis in vulnerable individuals. Addiction, 105(10), 1859-1860. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03119.x

Journal - Research Other

Every-Palmer, S., Newton-Howes, G., & Clarke, M. J. (2017). Pharmacological treatment for antipsychotic-related constipation. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 43(3), 490-492. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbx011

Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles

Every-Palmer, S., Gardiner, T., Tester, R., & Gordon, S. (2021). Creating a world of difference: Service user-led education for future psychiatrists in New Zealand. Asia-Pacific Psychiatry, 13(Suppl. 1), SM06-01. doi: 10.1111/appy.12459

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Bell, E., Hansby, O., Weatherall, M., Grant, E., Fairley, N. A., & Every-Palmer, S. (2019). Characteristics of "special patients": Preliminary findings from a 20-year retrospective cohort study into clinical, functioning and offending outcomes following rehabilitation. Proceedings of the Otago Spotlight Series: Mental Health Research. Retrieved from https://www.otago.ac.nz/healthsciences/research/forum/index.html

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Cunningham, R., Peterson, D., Poppe, K., Every-Palmer, S., & Jackson, R. (2019). Do we need a different tool for predicting cardiovascular risk among people with severe mental illness? Proceedings of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) 2019 New Zealand Conference. Retrieved from https://www.ranzcp2019.co.nz

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Every-Palmer, S. (2019). Clozapine and the colon: A clinical perspective [Symposium: Quality and safe use of clozapine: A practitioner's guide]. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 53(Suppl. 1), (pp. 92-93). doi: 10.1177/0004867419836919

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Every-Palmer, S. (2019). Mental health research: A chequred history. Proceedings of the Otago Spotlight Series: Mental Health Research. Retrieved from https://www.otago.ac.nz/healthsciences/research/forum/index.html

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Tester, R., Every-Palmer, S., Gardiner, T., & Gordon, S. (2019). World of Difference service user-led, recovery and human rights focused education programme to counter healthcare provider discrimination association with mental distress. Proceedings of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) 2019 New Zealand Conference. Retrieved from https://www.ranzcp2019.co.nz

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Every-Palmer, S., Ellis, P., Lentle, R., & Inns, S. (2018). Preventing and managing the life-threatening gastrointestinal effects of clozapine. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 52(Suppl. 1), (pp. 45). doi: 10.1177/0004867418764980

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

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