Evaluating the Better Access Initiative: What do Consumers Have to Say?

Abstract

The Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists and General Practitioners (GPs) through the Medicare Benefits Schedule initiative (Better Access) aims to improve outcomes for people with common mental disorders by encouraging a multidisciplinary approach to their mental health care. The current paper presents consumers' views on Better Access. A total of 936 consumers completed a structured survey or took part in an interview about their experiences with Better Access. Participants appreciated the fact that Better Access made psychological care affordable. They accessed services because they had high levels of symptomatology, often exacerbated by stressful life events. Most were impressed by the quality of care available through Better Access, and found that the number of available sessions was sufficient to meet their needs. Most importantly, the vast majority experienced significant reductions in symptoms and improvements in coping abilities, and they attributed these changes to the care they received through Better Access. Consumers are the most important stakeholders in any debate about mental health care delivery. Until now, however, they have not been well-represented in discussions about Better Access. Our study gave them the opportunity to air their views, and their firsthand impressions of the initiative were generally very positive.

How We Got Here: A Contextual Review of the Better Access Initiative

“…Several of the co-authors of the evaluation subsequently released peerreviewed articles that used the same data to explore other elements of Better Access. Ftanou et al (2014) investigated client experiences and found that of the 936 participants who were interviewed or completed a structured survey, "most were impressed by the quality of care available through Better Access" and "the vast majority experienced significant reductions in symptoms and improvements in coping abilities, and they attributed these changes to the care they received through Better Access" (p. 162). One issue that skewed these positive results was the admission by the authors of a "potential for selection bias" (p. 174) because the mental health providers might have recruited their most satisfied clients to take part in the research.…”

Integrating professional social work identity and social justice advocacy: An analysis of the Australian campaign to restore Medicare rebates for accredited mental health social workers

“…Four months later, the Better Access Evaluation report was released. The report included a section on social work services, based on consultations with 458 mental health consumers, which confirmed that social workers were providing high quality and accessible clinical care leading to positive health outcomes (Ftanou et al., 2014; Pirkis, Harris, Hall, & Ftanou, 2011).…”

Partners in Recovery: paving the way for the National Disability Insurance Scheme

“…To date, much of the PIR literature reports the perspective of service providers with limited insight into the experiences of the service user. Service users are important stakeholders in any debate about mental health care delivery and they can provide useful information about the quality of a service and highlight how PIR services should be improved (Ftanou et al 2014).…”