Mental health services underestimated in dementia response: RANZCP

Psychiatrists have expressed concern over the lack of a nationally coordinated approach to dementia and mental health policy development and said Australia is lagging behind other countries.

The professional peak body representing psychiatrists in Australia has expressed concern over the lack of a nationally coordinated approach to dementia and mental health policy development and said Australia is lagging behind other countries such as the UK and New Zealand.

The president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Malcolm Hopwood, told the government review into dementia services that the contribution of mental health services to the care of people with dementia has been “underestimated”  in Australia.

“This is in marked contrast to international approaches… It also does not reflect the reality of the significant current role mental health services have with people with dementia nor recognise that people with dementia can also have mental illness,” Professor Hopwood wrote in a submission to a stocktake of dementia programs and services funded by the Department of Social Services.

The organisation said the government needed to prioritise the development of clear standards or expectations for people with mental illness with comorbid dementia to ensure their access to quality services.

The peak body also called for greater clarity between Dementia Behaviour Management Advisory Services (DBMAS) and its interface with mental health services.

In its submission to the dementia stocktake, aged care industry peak body Aged and Community Services Australia also highlighted the need to complement existing initiatives in aged care with the development of specialised or high dependency dementia units which would have ongoing support from psychiatrists and mental health teams.

ACSA said the government’s new Severe Behaviour Response Teams were not a sustainable ongoing approach and further support was necessary.

As Australian Ageing Agenda has reported, the call for a national network of specialist care units is backed by leading dementia experts and service providers.

Improved access to GPs, specialist consultants and state-based mental health services such as aged psychiatry assessment and treatment teams should also be considered to support the care of residents with severe symptoms of dementia, said the aged care peak representing mission-based providers.

The industry peak body further proposed a triage service be considered to provide consumers and residential aged care providers with a single point of contact for referral to local services. “The triage service would be staffed by people with skills and experience in dementia care and a solid understanding of the services available in local regions,” said ACSA’s submission to the stocktake.

ACSA also emphasised the need to ensure equity of access to dementia services and specialist support throughout Australia including regional, rural and remote locations, and for dementia training programs to be extended beyond clinical staff to include hospitality workers and volunteers in aged care.

According to the government, the dementia stocktake will ensure “national coordination, integration and effectiveness of dementia support programs.”

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Tags: acsa, dementia-stocktake, department of social services, ranzcp,

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