MBChB (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.
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
Research summary
- Mental health service development and co-design
- Reducing health inequities in mental health care
- Multidisciplinary management of serious mental illness
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
Publications
Lian, A., Carr, G., Peterson, D., Jenkin, G., Lockett, H., Every-Palmer, S., & Cunningham, R. (2023). Still in the shadows: A national study of acute mental health unit location across New Zealand hospitals. BMC Health Services Research, 23, 21. doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-09004-z
Werkmeister, C., Cunningham, R., Freeland, A., Stanley, J., Every-Palmer, S., & Kuehl, S. (2022). Missed presentations, missed opportunities: A cross-sectional study of mental health presentation undercounting in the emergency department. Emergency Medicine Australasia. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.14114
Mair, R., Every-Palmer, S., Mathieson, F., & Jenkin, G. (2022). ‘My work matters’: A qualitative exploration of why staff love working in acute mental health. International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health, 19, 13619. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192013619
Morton, E. K., McKenzie, S. K., Cooper, A., Every-Palmer, S., & Jenkin, G. L. S. (2022). Gender and intersecting vulnerabilities on the mental health unit: Rethinking the dilemma. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 940130. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.940130
Every-Palmer, S., & Siskind, D. (2022, September). Clozapine: An update for practitioners. Verbal presentation at the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) New Zealand Conference, Queenstown, New Zealand.
Lian, A., Carr, G., Peterson, D., Jenkin, G., Lockett, H., Every-Palmer, S., & Cunningham, R. (2023). Still in the shadows: A national study of acute mental health unit location across New Zealand hospitals. BMC Health Services Research, 23, 21. doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-09004-z
Journal - Research Article
Beaglehole, B., Williman, J., Bell, C., Stanley, J., Jenkins, M., Gendall, P., Hoek, J., Rapsey, C., & Every-Palmer, S. (2022). Thriving in a pandemic: Determinants of excellent wellbeing among New Zealanders during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown: A cross-sectional survey. PLoS ONE, 17(3), e0262745. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262745
Journal - Research Article
Cassidy, H., Sims, A., & Every-Palmer, S. (2022). Psychiatrists’ views on the New Zealand end of life choice act. Australasian Psychiatry, 30(2), 254-261. doi: 10.1177/10398562221077889
Journal - Research Article
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
Every-Palmer, S., Grant, M. L., & Thabrew, H. (2022). Young people don’t tend to ask for help more than once: Child and adolescent psychiatrists’ views on ailing mental health services for young New Zealanders. Australasian Psychiatry, 30(6), 684-688. doi: 10.1177/10398562221115624
Journal - Research Article
Every-Palmer, S., Kim, A. H. M., Cloutman, L., & Kuehl, S. (2022). Police, ambulance and psychiatric co-response versus usual care for mental health and suicide emergency callouts: A quasi-experimental study. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/00048674221109131
Journal - Research Article
Handley, S. A., Every-Palmer, S., Ismail, A., & Flanagan, R. J. (2022). Clozapine-induced gastrointestinal hypomotility: Presenting features and outcomes, UK pharmacovigilance reports, 1992-2017. British Journal of Psychiatry, 220, 355-363. doi: 10.1192/bjp.2022.24
Journal - Research Article
Hazel, J., Kim, H. M., & Every-Palmer, S. (2022). Exploring the possible mental health and wellbeing benefits of video games for adult players: A cross-sectional study. Australasian Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/10398562221103081
Journal - Research Article
Jenkin, G., McIntosh, J., Marques, B., Peterson, D., Chrysikou, E., & Every-Palmer, S. (2022). Contemporary issues in acute mental health facility design: Insights from the Aotearoa-New Zealand experience. Kōtuitui. doi: 10.1080/1177083X.2022.2093229
Journal - Research Article
Jenkin, G., Quigg, S., Paap, H., Cooney, E., Peterson, D., & Every-Palmer, S. (2022). Places of safety? Fear and violence in acute mental health facilities: A large qualitative study of staff and service user perspectives. PLoS ONE, 17(5), e0266935. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266935
Journal - Research Article
Mair, R., Every-Palmer, S., Mathieson, F., & Jenkin, G. (2022). ‘My work matters’: A qualitative exploration of why staff love working in acute mental health. International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health, 19, 13619. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192013619
Journal - Research Article
Morton, E. K., McKenzie, S. K., Cooper, A., Every-Palmer, S., & Jenkin, G. L. S. (2022). Gender and intersecting vulnerabilities on the mental health unit: Rethinking the dilemma. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 940130. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.940130
Journal - Research Article
Werkmeister, C., Cunningham, R., Freeland, A., Stanley, J., Every-Palmer, S., & Kuehl, S. (2022). Missed presentations, missed opportunities: A cross-sectional study of mental health presentation undercounting in the emergency department. Emergency Medicine Australasia. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.14114
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, 23(2), 239-251.
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, 41(6), 650-657. 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
Jenkin, G., McIntosh, J., Hoek, J., Mala, K., Paap, H., Peterson, D., Marques, B., & Every-Palmer, S. (2021). There's no smoke without fire: Smoking in smoke-free acute mental health wards. PLoS ONE, 16(11), e0259984. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259984
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
de Leon, J., Schoretsanitis, G., Smith, R. L., Molden, E., Solismaa, A., Seppälä, N., … Every-Palmer, S., … Müller, D. J. (2022). An international adult guideline for making clozapine titration safer by using six ancestry-based personalized dosing titrations, CRP, and clozapine levels. Pharmacopsychiatry, 55, 73-86. doi: 10.1055/a-1625-6388
Journal - Research Other
Every-Palmer, S., Koning, A., Smith, L., Cunningham, R., Lacey, C., Peterson, D., … Scott, K. M., Dowell, T., … Lockett, H. (2022). Structural discrimination in the COVID-19 vaccination programme for people with mental health and addiction issues: Now is the time to be equally well. New Zealand Medical Journal, 135(1550), 121-127. Retrieved from https://journal.nzma.org.nz/
Journal - Research Other
Galbally, M., Eggleston, K., Northwood, K., Siskind, D., Berk, M., Suetani, S., … Every-Palmer, S. (2022). Renewal of academic psychiatry without addressing gender equity will render it Jurassic rather than endangered. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/00048674221123494
Journal - Research Other
Lacey, C., Lawrence, M., Paterson, C., & Every-Palmer, S. (2022). Voices forgotten or a future of inclusion and equity: An Aotearoa New Zealand perspective on better publication of Indigenous mental health research. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/00048674221113433
Journal - Research Other
Suetani, S., Every-Palmer, S., Galbally, M., Berk, M., Gill, N., & Siskind, D. (2022). Reviving academic psychiatry in Australia and New Zealand. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/00048674221091927
Journal - Research Other
Sutton, L., Bell, E., Every-Palmer, S., Weatherall, M., & Skirrow, P. (2022). Survivorship of patients after long intensive care stay with exploration and experience in a New Zealand cohort (SPLIT ENZ): Protocol for a mixed methods study. JMIR Research Protocols, 11(3), e35936. doi: 10.2196/35936
Journal - Research Other
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, 23(5), 866-871. 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