 Reallocating Australia's Scarce Mental Health ResourcesRuth F.G. William S and D.P. Doessel Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform, 2016, vol. 23, issue 1, 47-72 Abstract: This paper applies some simple analytical tools from the economists' toolbox to shed some light on a sleeper issue in Australia's mental health sector. The problem is that there are large numbers of people with no diagnosed mental health condition who consume mental health services. Simultaneously, there are large numbers of people who have very serious mental health problems who receive no mental health services. This untreated group is often referred to as those with ?unmet need?, a much-heard term. We refer to the first group as people with 'met non-need', a term hardly ever heard. Although the solution to the unmet-need problem is the oft-heard call for increased government expenditure, no attention is directed to the wasted expenditure associated with the 'met non-need' group: the met non-need issue is 'the elephant in the room'. We point to an alternative policy response; that is, a reallocation of resources from the met non-need group to the unmet need group. To achieve this, we direct focus upon a structural reform in the processes of supplying mental health services. Date: 2016 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:acb:agenda:v:23:y:2016:i:1:p:47-72 Access Statistics for this article More articles in Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform from Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics Contact information at EDIRC. |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.