A profile of Australian mental health carers, their caring role and service needs: results from the 2012 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers

Abstract

Results reveal a sizable number of mental health carers with unmet needs in the Australian community, particularly with respect to financial assistance and respite care, and that these carers are poorly informed about available supports. The prominence of emotional support and their greater dissatisfaction with services indicate a need to better tailor carer services. If implemented carefully, recent Australian reforms including the Carer Gateway and National Disability Insurance Scheme hold promise for improving mental health carer supports.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme and people with severe and persistent mental illness/psychosocial disability: A review, analysis and synthesis of published literature

“… NDIS: National Disability Insurance Scheme; NDIA: National Disability Insurance Agency; PSD: psychosocial disability. † Numbers listed in this column refer to the following publications: 1, Aitken et al (2019); 2, Barclay et al (2020); 3, Cashin (2014); 4, Dickinson and Carey (2017); 5, Diminic et al (2019); 6, Furst et al (2018); 7, Gillieatt et al (2018); 8, Hancock et al (2017); 9, Hayes et al (2018); 10, Horsfall et al (2018); 11, Isaacs et al (2018); 12, Kay and Kendall (2017); 13, Maker et al (2017); 14, Malbon et al (2019); 15, McGorry and Hamilton (2016); 16, Mellifont (2017); 17, Mulder (2017); 18, New South Wales Nurses’ Association (2019); 19, Pereira et al (2020); 20, Reppermund et al (2018); 21, Rosenberg (2017); 22, Rosenberg et al (2019); 23, Salvador-Carulla and Einfeld (2014); 24, Schweizer et al (2018); 25, Simpson et al (2016); 26, Stewart et al (2018); 27, Trollor (2014); 28, Williams and Smith (2014). …”

Caring hours and possible need for employment support among primary carers for adults with mental illness: Results from an Australian household survey

“…Why might this be? It is possible that the different mix of caring tasks taken on by mental health carers (Diminic, Hielscher, Harris, Lee, et al, ) may moderate the relationship between caring hours and employment; providing emotionally focussed support could be less detrimental to maintaining paid work for mental health carers until it becomes a significant time and mental burden at higher caring intensities. Alternatively, the distribution of caring hours at the highest level may have been different for mental health carers compared to other carers.…”

“…Intensive caring responsibilities can have a significant impact on primary mental health carers’ own paid employment. Mental health carers report difficulties and associated anxiety with managing the competing demands of their caring and employment (Carers Victoria, ), and only 41% of Australian primary mental health carers were employed in 2012 (Diminic, Hielscher, Harris, Lee, et al, ) compared with 62% of the general population (Australian Bureau of Statistics, ). Assisting mental health carers to maintain their employment where possible is important for their own finances, social networks, health and well‐being, as well as broader economic benefits (Jacobs, Lilly, Ng, & Coyte, ; Lilly, ; Neil, Carr, Mihalopoulos, Mackinnon, & Morgan, ).…”

“…The current inquiry into mental health and economic participation (Productivity Commission, ) provides a timely call to better understand the specific employment needs of mental health carers. Mental health caring tends to be more unpredictable and focused on emotional and crisis support than caring for physical disabilities (Diminic, Hielscher, Harris, Lee, et al, ). Mental health carers report higher caring burden than physical health carers (Hastrup, Berg, & Gyrd‐Hansen, ; Vecchio, Stevens, & Cybinski, ; Viana et al, ), spend large amounts of time on standby in case the person they support needs assistance at short notice (Hielscher et al, ), and experience significant anxiety about their caring role while at work (Carers Victoria, ).…”

“…In Australia, there has been little quantitative research to identify mental health carers who may need assistance either to maintain their employment or re‐enter the workforce. Mental health carers tend to report greater unmet needs than physical health carers and may require different services (Diminic, Hielscher, Harris, Lee, et al, ). To better support these carers in the workforce, we need to know how many are at risk of leaving employment or would like to work, and what types of assistance they need.…”