Better access to psychology services in primary mental health care: an evaluation

Abstract

Introduction: The Access to Allied Psychological Services program was introduced as part of the Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care initiative in 2001?2002. Divisions of General Practice are funded to establish programs that allow GPs to refer patients for psychological treatments. The University of New South Wales evaluated programs run by the Southern Highlands and Illawarra Divisions of General Practice. This paper presents the findings of these evaluations. Method: Both evaluations analysed process and patient outcomes. This was obtained from a combination of program data and qualitative satisfaction data. Results: The two program models differed in the mechanism of retention of the psychologists and the method of referral of patients. Anxiety and depression were the main reasons for referral, and clinical data showed there was improvement in patient outcomes. Patients, GPs and psychologists expressed satisfaction with the programs. Discussion: The Access to Allied Psychological Services programs in both Divisions have proven popular. Flexibility in the program structure allows Divisions to develop a model which suits their local circumstances. There is support for ongoing Commonwealth funding and the challenge is to find the most effective and financially sustainable model of delivery for psychological services in primary care.

Experiences of support in working toward personal recovery goals: a collaborative, qualitative study

“…In the present study participants were interviewed two years after they first started treatment in specialist care. Although most participants in the study were young (five out of eight were younger than 30 years of age) and they were recruited at the specialist centre relatively early after the start of their mental health problems, compared to participants in most of the studies in the field [34, 35, 39], it may be that the valued approaches reported by the participants in the present study are more useful during later stages of recovery than during acute stages of illness.…”

Considerations in providing shared‐care psychological treatment for clients who have alcohol or other drug misuse problems

“…If a patient has a mental disorder and also has comorbidities and complex care needs, GPs can use EPC items and also BOIMHC/Better Access items. Evaluation studies have found that referral of clients through these pathways leads to improvement in terms of a variety of outcome measures which are relevant to AOD clients (Vagholkar, Hare, Hasan, Zwar, & Perkins, 2006;Vines et al, 2004). Our interested psychologist participants were offering a wide variety of therapeutic approaches, including cognitive behaviour therapy, solution-focused brief therapy, interpersonal therapy, hypnosis, and family therapy.…”

The implementation and impact of different funding initiatives on access to multidisciplinary primary health care and policy implications

“…13 There has also been a steady increase in the number of patients with depression and anxiety disorders being seen by allied health providers under the Access to Allied Psychology Services (ATAPS) initiative, with some evidence of improved health outcomes and consumer satisfaction as a result of these new services. [14][15][16][17] GP referrals to allied health services per 100 psychological problems managed are also twice the rate of all allied health referrals. 18 Early uptake of the Enhanced Primary Care (EPC) items that required input from different provider types was initially slow, but increased after the introduction of incentives for practices and funding to support access to allied health services in areas of workforce shortage.…”