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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., 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. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/10398562221115624

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

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

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

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

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. Advance online publication. 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. Advance online publication. 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

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

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

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

de Leon, J., Schoretsanitis, G., Smith, R. L., Molden, E., Solismaa, A., Seppälä, N., … Every-Palmer, S., … Müller, D. J. (2021). An International adult guideline for making clozapine titration safer by using six ancestry-based personalized dosing titrations, CRP, and clozapine levels. Pharmacopsychiatry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1055/a-1625-6388

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

Sutton-Smith, L., Weatherall, M., Bell, E. M., Every-Palmer, S., & Skirrow, P. (2021). What are the long-term outcomes for New Zealand survivors of critical illness? New Zealand Medical Journal, 134(1547), 121-126. 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

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