Mental health : services

Mental healthcare for older people is primarily delivered in the community with informal carers, usually family providing much of this. Older people often require input from a range of services across sectors. In Australia, the different funding and governance structures of these services makes for a complex landscape for older people, their families and mental health workers to navigate. As many people now care into later life, the consequences of not getting the required support include the potential for increased carer burden and reduced capacity to fulfil caring tasks.

The first part of the paper argues that the care relationship is crucial to securing care quality, which has implications for the way in which quality is achieved and measured. However, for more than twenty years, governments have emphasised the part that increasing market competition and, more recently, user choice of services can play in driving up the quality of care. The second part of the paper analyses the development of social care services for older people, from the reform of 1990 to the changes following the general election of 2010.

Objective The aim of this paper is to report on the findings of a consultation project exploring demand for mental health related complementary therapy services in the local area.

Increasingly, Australian government policy advances an expectation that consumer and carer participation will be present in all aspects of mental health service delivery. A review of the literature suggests that consumers and carers actively seek the opportunity to participate but are frequently hampered by barriers. However, government policy documents tend to discuss consumers and carers with regards to participation as though their needs and desires are essentially similar.

This study examined caregiver perceptions of mental health problems and counseling needs in low-income children with special health care needs (CSHCN). Interviewers collected data from 257 caregivers of CSHCN (61% males; 60% African American; Mean age = 8.4 years) attending six Midwestern inner-city health clinics. Measures included the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and an investigator-designed questionnaire. CBCL T-scores indicated that 38% of CSHCN had a behavioral or mental health problem, but only 26% of caregivers perceived the need for treatment or counseling.

Hot Topic series. Comments on the incidence and impact of Alzheimer Disease, focusing on the effect on informal carers and the need for services to be provided to support them and allow patients to lead independent lives. [(BNI unique abstract)] 0 references

This article suggests that relational approaches and carer-centred practice in mental health and other services might alleviate some of the burden on the health – both physical and mental – experienced by informal carers. Unhelpful staff attitudes and poor communication are barriers to effective engagement between professionals and carers.