Newsletter
July / August 2010
Welcome to our eNewsletter
During recent months we have focussed on compiling further research data documenting the effectiveness of therapy we have offered clients throught the Better Access Initiative. This has been especially important given the current emphasis on mental health issues in the media. It has been of some concern that some media reports have suggested that there is little evidence of the effectiveness of psychological treatment through this scheme. We have been pleased to be able to provide such evidence and to disseminate it as described in this newsletter.
Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. Once again I encourage those of you who are interested to download the research findings which we believe to be have very important implications for the profession.
To View Research page click here
Sue – Practice Manager
Response from the Federal Government of Practice Outcome Data results
Response from the Federal Government of Practice Outcome Data results
A submission to the office of the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Nicola Roxon MP, was forwarded in May this year to report on outcome evaluation data of clients seen via the Better Access initiative. This was subsequently forwarded to the Mental Health Reform Branch from which an acknowledgement was received in July. The Assistant Secretary, Virginia Hart, noted with interest the vastness and relevance of the information collected so far, particularly in relation to major depressive disorders.
Free Public Talks
The free public talks are currently in Winter hiatus and will recommence for 2010 on Thursday September 9th with a talk on Dealing with Suicidality. The relevance of this issue has been reflected in recent media statements by Professor Pat McGorry, 2010 Australian of the Year, who highlighted that the prevalence of suicide outweighs the statistics of the road toll. He called for greater reporting and discussion of the issue of suicide. The full schedule of talks for 2010 is listed on the Free Public Talks page of this website. Please feel free to contact our administration team if you have any enquiries or would like to be placed on the email reminder service for the talks.
Click here for Free Public Talks page
Practice Research to Be Presented at 2010 International Conference on Depression and Anxiety
Chris will present an extended presentation at the 11th International Mental Health Conference on Anxiety and Depression to be held on the Gold Coast in August. This paper is entitled, "Can We Do It? Yes We Can! - Benchmarking Treatment Outcomes in Private Practice". An updated range of results will be presented incorporating outcome data from over 500 clients. This follows on from the presentation of the practice outcome data for clients seen under the Better Access Medicare scheme at the 2010 National Conference of the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy in Melbourne in April.
Letters to the Editor
Due to recent media attention on the Better Access scheme Chris Mackey has provided the popular press with research evidence from our practice of the effectiveness of the scheme. Two letters to the editor have recently been published in The Age and The Sunday Age. It is hoped that this information will help counter any further claims in media reports that there was as yet no evidence in Australia for the effectiveness of this scheme.
