Management or missed opportunity? Mental health care planning in Australian general practice
Date
2019
Authors
Banfield, Michelle
Farrer, Louise
Harrison, Christopher
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
CSIRO Publishing
Abstract
General practice care plans are designed to improve the management of chronic illness, facilitating
multidisciplinary care and enabling GPs and consumers to work collaboratively. Evidence suggests that they work well for
chronic physicalillnesses, butitis unclear ifthey operate asintended for people with mental disorders. The aims ofthis study
were to: (1) compare rates of creation and review of GP care plans for mental disorders and type II diabetes; and (2) examine
consumer experiences. Secondary analysis of 109 589 recorded encounters from a national cross-sectional study in
Australian general practice (2006-16) demonstrated that encounters involving creation of a care plan for depression or
anxiety were significantly higher than those for diabetes, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Rates of review were
commensurate with creation of plans for diabetes, but not for mental disorders. Eighteen people with a GP care plan
completed an online survey abouttheir experiences, reporting that care plans facilitated accessto allied health professionals,
but did not improve the quality of care they received. Findings suggest that care plans are underutilised for people with low
prevalence mental disorders, and while they offer financial benefits to consumers, they may not result in ongoing,
collaborative care.
Description
Keywords
anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, management plan, primary care, schizophrenia
Citation
Collections
Source
Australian Journal of Primary Health
Type
Journal article
Book Title
Entity type
Access Statement
Open Access
License Rights
CC BY-NC-ND
DOI
Restricted until
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