ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IS KEY TO TURN AROUND THE POOR OUTCOMES FOR THE BUSH
Media Release 03 June 2017 -- National Rural Health Alliance
A long-term investment plan is needed to overcome the ongoing shortfall in access to mental health services in rural and remote Australia, David Butt, CEO of the National Rural Health Alliance, said today.
People living in remote and very remote communities in Australia access only a small portion of the mental health services available to their city cousins according to a new report from the Royal Flying Doctors Service Mental Health in Remote and Rural Communities. This is despite experiencing mental health disorders at the same rate as people in the cities.
The RFDS has examined the data it collects on aeromedical retrievals for emergency mental health care to determine the barriers to better mental health in the bush and how these can be overcome.
In responding to the findings, David Butt noted that “Sadly, this is not new, but rather a further confirmation of the divide between the city and the bush. While I recognise the progress that is being made by governments and service providers, we have to commit to finding ways to address these critical barriers to effective prevention, early intervention, diagnosis and management in the bush.
“Anyone can experience a mental health issue. Building strong, resilient families and communities, and improving access to help from professionals, will help more people on the pathway to recovery and to leading contributing lives.
“I congratulate the RFDS on this report and contributing to the growing voices calling for better access to mental health services in rural and remote communities” said Mr Butt. “The Alliance stands ready to work with the sector and governments to address the gaps and turn around the poor outcomes in the bush”.
(Posted June 2017)
NATIONAL RURAL WOMEN’S COALITION (NRWC) http://www.nrwc.com.au/
Representing over 250,000 rural, regional and remote Australian women, their families, communities and associated networks, the National Rural Women’s Coalition (NRWC) is the national peak body for six specific-purpose women’s groups, a number of Indigenous groups and several additional collaborative agreements.
NATIONAL RURAL HEALTH ALLIANCE http://www.ruralhealth.org.au/
The National Rural Health Alliance is comprised of 36 national organisations and is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of the more than 6.7 million people in rural and remote Australia.
QUEENSLAND RURAL REGIONAL AND REMOTE WOMEN’S NETWORK http://qrrrwnonline.wildapricot.org/
Building a strong community of women.