Wyndham residents in need of mental health services may be missing out as the city has only half as many Medicare-supported mental health experts as other areas.
A Monash University study shows Wyndham has 45 psychiatrist services and 24 psychologist services per 1000 people.
Hobsons Bay, has 99 psychiatric services and 46 psychology services per 1000 people, while Maribyrnong has 109 psychiatric services and 52 psychology services. Brimbank has 67 psychiatric and 26 psychology services.
Lead researcher Professor Graham Meadows said areas such as Wyndham were “powerful examples of big variations in quite close areas”.
“People living in disadvantaged and rural areas typically receive a mental health service model characterised by lower volumes of service and provided by less highly trained providers,” he said.
Working in the Better Access to Mental Health Care program, researchers analysed 25 million Medicare-supported mental health service interactions from 2007 to 2011.
The analysis highlights that although more psychological help is needed by less-wealthy people, fewer of them actually seek it.
Professor Meadows said it was concerning that regional areas such as Greater Geelong and Ballarat had more psychiatric and clinical psychology services than Wyndham.
Greater Geelong has 70 psychiatric services and 30 psychology services per 1000 people.
“We’re confident lower socio-economic areas have higher rates of … depression and anxiety,” Professor Meadows said.
“Those disorders sometimes remit, but often they persist or become chronic in the absence of treatment.
“This means those people may have more difficulty at work and won’t be as able to function in higher-earning positions.
“They’re also more likely to become unemployed, have family issues and possible substance abuse problems.
“Quite a lot of people may be missing out on what they really need.”
Professor Meadows said the solution was a complete reform of our “highly confused and poorly organised” health care system.
“I don’t have a simple answer,” he said. “A start could be by changing Medicare rebates. It might help somewhat but I think, long term, a deeper structural reform is needed.”
