Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology
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Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol · Dec 2001
Australian general practice and the meeting of needs for mental health care.
This report, drawing on a national epidemiological survey conducted in 1997, examines the role of Australian medical general practitioners (GPs) in responding to needs for mental health care. ⋯ Many people with mental health problems attend primary medical care practitioners without presenting these problems to their physicians. When they do present, perceived needs for medication are rated as well met, but there is substantial unmet perceived need for interventions in social and occupational domains. Perceived needs for counselling are less well met where the GP is the sole provider. To close these identified gaps calls for improvements in primary care physicians' skills and effective collaborative models with other providers.