One of Australia’s leading authorities on mental health has challenged the sector to reform what he says is a dysfunctional system instead of just seeking additional funding to “paper over the cracks and support ineffective programs”.
In an editorial in the latest edition of the Sax Institute’s journal Public Health Research & Practice, Professor Ian Hickie said: “Increased funding for expanded mental health services is crucial, but unless we overhaul the system and have the courage to defund ineffective programs, we will be throwing good money after bad”.
Professor Hickie, who is Co-Director of Health and Policy at the Brain and Mind Centre at the University of Sydney, and a Commissioner in Australia’s National Mental Health Commission, is the guest editor of the journal’s latest issue, which focuses on mental health.
“For too long we have been pumping scarce resources into a dysfunctional system riddled by silos and an absence of independent monitoring and evaluation of effectiveness,” he said. “Many parts of the system continue to put practitioners and policy makers, not patients, at the centre. It is incumbent on all of us in the sector to acknowledge and address these systemic problems, instead of hiding under the doona.”
Professor Hickie said the time was right to address these issues, as Australia had recently embarked on the most radical attempt to reshape mental health services in the past 30 years and the National Disability Insurance Scheme was set to play a major role in the mental health sector.
“We know from Australian and international experience that the best way to deliver higher-quality mental health care is through multidisciplinary teams. In many cases, however, these are resisted by professional organisations that prioritise fee-for-service, solo-practitioner or single-professional group styles of practice. We also continue to prioritise funding into institutional settings when we know that community-based psychosocial, primary and community health services can have the most impact.
“We also need a system that puts patients and their families at the heart not just of care, but of the wider decision making process. Although the era of hierarchies and the ‘doctor knows best’ mentality is over, many have not caught up to this reality.
“Finally, we need independent, national evaluation of programs. This will create a true picture of what is working and what isn’t, meaning we can direct resources accordingly. Where services can show their effectiveness, they should be supported with increased resources. But services that are not having an impact should not be supported forever.”
Professor Hickie said the latest issue of Public Health Research & Practice focussed on how to overhaul and improve the mental health sector, with papers from consumers and systems thinkers, and examples of innovative programs that are already being rolled out.
“It should be required reading for everyone in the sector,” he said.
Download the editorial: Putting mental health services and suicide prevention reform into practice
Public Health Research & Practice is a peer-reviewed, Medline-listed quarterly online journal published by the Sax Institute. Subscribe for free at www.phrp.com.au/about-us/subscribe/
Please acknowledge the Sax institute’s Public Health Research & Practice as the source for any stories.
Other papers in this issue of Public Health Research & Practice:
Reform, revolution and disruption in mental health care: a consumer’s perspective
Australia’s mental health care sector is reaching a tipping point for transformation, with consumers demanding a more transparent, seamless system of care and support, according to National Mental Health Commissioner Jackie Crowe.
Public link once embargo lifts (for inclusion in articles)
#WaysToRelax: developing an online alcohol-related health promotion animation for people aged 55 years and over
Researchers have developed a new animation to help Baby Boomers relax after they found that people aged over 55 often turn to alcohol to reduce stress.
Public link once embargo lifts (for inclusion in articles)
A decision tool to inform Australian suicidal behaviour and suicide prevention strategies
Increasing general practitioner training to identify suicide risk is associated with having the biggest impact on preventing suicides, new modelling shows.
Public link once embargo lifts (for inclusion in articles)
What evidence is available on disability income-support design and mental illness? A review of Australia and Ontario
Policies on disability income support relating to mental illness are often based on negative assumptions about people with mental illnesses rather than evidence.
Public link once embargo lifts (for inclusion in articles)
A ‘systems’ approach to suicide prevention: radical change or doing the same things better?
Continued high suicide rates, coupled with emerging international evidence, have led to the development of a ‘systems’ approach to suicide prevention, which is now being trialled as part of a proposed Suicide Prevention Framework for NSW.
Public link once embargo lifts (for inclusion in articles)
Transdiagnostic stepped care in mental health
Mental health experts have called for the development of new ‘transdiagnostic’ models of stepped care, arguing that the current stepped care models of service delivery do not cater well for comorbidities or complexity in real-world clinical practice.
Public link once embargo lifts (for inclusion in articles)
Should tobacco and alcohol companies be allowed to influence the Australian National Drug Strategy?
A Freedom of Information request has revealed that members of the tobacco and alcohol industries made submissions on formulating Australia’s new National Drug Strategy, which were not made public.
Public link once embargo lifts (for inclusion in articles)
Identifying hospitalisations attributed to adverse drug reactions
The incidence of hospitalisations relating to adverse drug reactions in Australia may be higher than previously thought, research suggests.
Public link once embargo lifts (for inclusion in articles)
Challenges of integrating evidence into health policy and planning – linking multiple disciplinary approaches
Researchers have provided a gateway to overcome the challenges in achieving true interdisciplinary evidence-informed policy making.
Public link once embargo lifts (for inclusion in articles)
Find out more
- Visit the journal site to see the latest issue in full
- Subscribe for free quarterly email alerts when the journal is published
- Contact the Sax Institute communications team
PUBLICATION DATE
26 April 2017
TOPICS
MEDIA ENQUIRIES
0451 122 146
hugo.wilcken@saxinstitute.org.au
