Income-based inequities in access to psychotherapy and other mental health services in Canada and Australia.
Health Policy
; 123(1): 45-50, 2019 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30424886
ABSTRACT
This paper compares income-based inequities in access to psychotherapy and other mental health services in Canada and Australia, two federal parliamentary systems with sharply contrasting responses to high rates of unmet need. Income-based inequity is measured by need-standardized concentration indices, using comparable data from the Canadian Community Health Survey 2011-2012 and the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being 2007. The results indicate that utilization of psychologist services is more concentrated at higher income levels (i.e. pro-rich) than the other provider groups in both countries, and may be more pro-rich in Canada than in Australia. While the distribution of unmet need for psychotherapy was expected (as a negative indicator of access) to be more concentrated at lower income levels (i.e. pro-poor) under Canada's two-tier system, unmet need was not more equitable in Australia despite expanded public insurance coverage. As psychotherapy was made universally affordable for the first time in Australia in 2006, a possible backlog effect may have driven up both service utilization and unmet need, particularly among lower-income Australians. The impact of different Medicare co-payment policies also warrants further exploration.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Psicoterapia
/
Disparidades em Assistência à Saúde
/
Serviços de Saúde Mental
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
/
Oceania
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article