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Mental health service use: Is there a difference between rural and non‐rural women in service uptake?
Author(s) -
DoljaGore Xenia,
Loxton Deborah J.,
D'Este Catherine A.,
Byles Julie E.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
australian journal of rural health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.48
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1440-1584
pISSN - 1038-5282
DOI - 10.1111/ajr.12109
Subject(s) - service (business) , mental health service , mental health , rural health , rural area , business , nursing , environmental health , medicine , psychiatry , marketing , pathology
This study examines differences in uptake of the Medicare items rolled out in 2006 under the ‘ B etter A ccess S cheme’ ( 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 A ustralian L ongitudinal S tudy of W omen's H ealth ( 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.