- Title
- Mental health service use: is there a difference between rural and non-rural women in service uptake?
- Creator
- Dolja-Gore, Xenia; Loxton, Deborah J.; D'Este, Catherine A.; Byles, Julie E.
- Relation
- Australian Journal of Rural Health Vol. 22, Issue 3, p. 92-100
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajr.12109
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2014
- Description
- This study examines differences in uptake of the Medicare items rolled out in 2006 under the 'Better Access Scheme' (BAS) between rural and non-rural Australian women. It compares differences in women's uptake of the BAS services by area of residence (ARIA+) across time using the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health (ALSWH) survey data linked to Medicare data. Women aged 28-33 years at the time the BAS was introduced that responded to the self-reported question on depression/anxiety and consented to linkage of their survey data with Medicare data (n=4316). Participants were grouped by ARIA+according to BAS use, diagnoses of anxiety/depression but no BAS use and other eligible women. Across all areas, women born 1973-1978 with a self-reported diagnosis of depression/anxiety or having treatment under the BAS had a significantly lower mean mental health score compared to other women. Significantly more women living in non-rural areas had used at least one service provided under the BAS initiative compared to women in outer regional, inner regional or remotes areas (21% versus 18% versus 13% versus 7%, respectively), and across all areas, 12% of women reported having a diagnosis of depression/anxiety but not been treated under the BAS. While there is a gradual uptake of the new BAS services, a large percentage of women who have a diagnosis of depression/anxiety have not been treated under the BAS. The data suggest that women in urban areas have been better able to take up the services compared to non-urban women.
- Subject
- better access scheme; rural mental health service use
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1304414
- Identifier
- uon:20845
- Identifier
- ISSN:1038-5282
- Language
- eng
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