Demand for mental health services in Far West NSW is rising dramatically, prompting the region’s health service to expand its mental health team.
The move by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) comes on the back of alarming statistics into rural mental health released in two
independent reports in the past month.
A survey by the Second Australian Child and Adolescent on Mental Health and Well-Being found there were “significantly higher” rates of mental disorders for those who lived in non-metropolitan areas.
Prevalence of mental disorders in males aged between four and 17 years were 5.4 per cent higher across a year for those not living in greater capital cities, while for females it was 1.4pc higher.
The Medical Research and Rural Health Garvan Report 2015 has reported the rate of suicide was 66pc higher in the country than in major cities across the nation.
But there’s good news, with the rate of young Australians seeking help doubling compared with 15 years ago, according to the survey.
Increased demand for assistance prompted the Royal Flying Doctor Service to request more mental health workers.
As such, recruitment has begun for a mental health professional to join the Broken Hill-based mental health team of 3.5 full-time-equivalent staff.
The team visits nearly 20 remote towns, including Wilcannia, Ivanhoe, Tibooburra, Wanaaring, Tilpa, White Cliffs to run medical clinics.
RFDS general manager of health services for the south-east section Linda Cutler said demand for mental health services had increased in the past few years.
“We’ve currently got a team of a psychologist, mental nurses and a drug and alcohol counsellor and most of our full-time clinicians are carrying a case load of 40 patients each,” Mrs Cutler said.
The team is involved in a series of mental health clinics and events, including well-being workshops.
“At the first one we had about 15 people but it was such a success that the next workshop had 36 people at it,” Mrs Cutler said.
She said drought wasn’t the cause of mental health issues, but had exacerbated the problem.
“People who live in those very remote areas tread a pretty hard track and even though there’s been some rain recently there a lots
of places when groundwater is
still needed,” she said.
Changes to family structures and communities has also led to the higher demand for mental health services.
“We no longer have large extended families and close relationships to help support each other,” Mrs Cutler said.
The service is also looking at other ways to service mental health clients.
“We’ve been trying to use
technology to improve access to services and we’ve increased the use of Skype and telephone counselling for follow-up appointments,” Mrs Cutler said.
“Clients still get some face to face counselling but it allows more timely follow up for people who are stressed or feeling pressure and showing signs of mental health issues, without having to wait for
a clinic.
“Three years ago we had about a dozen consults by telephone and now we’re up to about 640.”
RFDS is also looking to hire a senior mental health professional based at Dubbo.
“For many places in the Far West area we’re the GP as well as the emergency doctors, and our mental health team works as part of the primary care team.
“We’re well-known for the emergency retrieval work that we do but 80 per cent of what we do is primary health care so we’d love to have a psychologist working out of Dubbo.
“There are mental health teams located at Bourke and Lightning Ridge but they find it hard to attract senior clinicians to assist with very complex cases.
“We’d like to work with
those teams in enhancing local services.”
Helping hand at Broken Hill
VANESSA Layton has worked as a mental health nurse based at Broken Hill for the past four years and has witnessed a significant rise in the number of people seeking help.
She spends her time travelling to remote clinics and servicing clients from the base through telephone and email.
“We have 12 clinics split between the psychologist and myself,” Miss Layton said.
“Some days we are on base so some of our remote clients might visit us while they’re in town, but we spend a lot of time providing support on the phone.
“Emailing can be quite good, particularly with the younger clients.”
Miss Layton’s clients range from teenagers to elderly people.
She said drought has had a big impact on the number of farmers wanting to talk to somebody.
“They very much feel the way their property feels. When the property’s suffering they suffer emotionally and mentally.
“They’re that connected to their land and business which shows how passionate they are about what they do.”
Miss Layton said seeking help could be difficult at the start, but often just talking to a professional could give the person relief.
She encouraged her clients to talk to their families and neighbours about their problems.
“It’s great when they come to see us but we encourage that conversation with their neighbours because chances are if one person is doing it tough so is the neighbour,” she said.
“You can talk to your neighbours and families or you can come and talk to a GP without going straight into a mental health assessment, but plenty of people do just ring us direct and go from there.
“Our door is always open.”