Figures released in a report by the Department of Health reveal community based support is more cost effective than treatment in hospital and decreases the amount of time patients require clinical inpatient care.
Read the full report here.
Queensland Alliance for Mental Health acting-CEO Richard Nolan said community based care is “a much more effective use of resources”.
“The housing and support program offers people community based support and care,” he said.
“[Community based support] is an area that we believe the government needs to focus more on because improving that, and increasing public investment in community based care, will assist people to recover.”
The HASI aims to assists people with mental illness in finding and maintaining accommodation, as well as the overall improvement in their quality of life.
The number of days patients spent in hospital decreased by 90 per cent in the 12 months following the program.
Mr Nelson said hospital care is not the only answer for mental health patients.
“If you were to look at only the number of beds and where they’re available, and how many there are, I think you wouldn’t be looking at the real issue,” Mr Nolan said.
“People do need care such as acute clinical care but it isn’t necessarily the solution on its own,” he said.
“Evidence points to people recovering best in their own homes and their own communities.”
If you, or someone you know, needs to talk to someone about mental illness - Click Here.
Mr Nelson said the implementation of the mental health package by the Federal Government was going in the right direction but more is needed.
“The level of support that people can access in their community isn’t at the level we think it should be at,” he said.
“It’s an area we think can grow and needs to grow”
The discrepancy between the funding of mental health and other illnesses is because of the stigma surrounding mental illness, according to CEO of Mental Illness Fellowship of Queensland Tony Stevenson.
“There is a lot of stigma attached to it because of a lack of understanding about mental illness,” Mr Stevenson said.
“People in the community are more familiar with other diseases and accept those illnesses. Unfortunately there is not the same level of advocacy for mental illness,” he said.
Mr Stevenson said awareness and understanding of depression had improved but there was “still a high level of uncertainty”.
Mr Nelson said the importance of stigma reduction would be highlighted at a mental health summit in Brisbane next week, as part of Mental Health Week.
“There’s a lot of work being done nationally, internationally and even also in Queensland around stigma reduction,” Mr Nelson said.
“It’s attracting a lot of attention, it’s something really important in the development of the recovery for people with mental health issues and it’s an area that the Queensland Government is paying particular attention to, which is welcome,” he said.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done, it’s really early days at the moment but I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
Mental Health Week is next week from 9-15 October and International Mental Health Day is 10 October.
For more information on Mental Health Week visit the website - Mental Health Week
