title: Geography of primary mental health care through the Better Access initiative in South Australia 2006-2010.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine how the rates of the use of particular face-to-face primary mental health care services changed in the first 4 years (2006-2010) of the Better Access initiative in both urban and rural regions of South Australia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Time-series analysis of the number of psychology session, psychiatry assessment and general practitioner care plan services recorded in Medicare Australia data.
  
  
  METHODS
  South Australia. Pre-existing data set of South Australian residents who accessed Medicare between 2006 and 2010 MAIN OBJECTIVE MEASURE: Number of services per 100 000 population (service rate).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Psychology session service rates increased in all regions, but continued to follow a 'location gradient', being higher in areas closer to Adelaide and lower in areas more distant from Adelaide. Psychiatry assessment service rates increased in Adelaide but did not change in other regions. Rates in remote areas were subject to substantial variation over time. General practitioner care plan service rates increased in Adelaide and in the Riverland, but declined in the Murray Mallee region.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, service rates increased in Adelaide and nearby regions, but the results for rural and remote regions were mixed. Possible explanations for the geographical variability include population characteristics (such as socio-economic status), methods of service delivery (visiting practitioners, telepsych), the relative proportion of total health services provided by general practitioners versus other practitioners, or real variations in the need for primary mental health services.
authors.affiliation: Flinders University Rural Clinical School, Poche Centre for Aboriginal Health, Burra, South Australia, Australia.|Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia.
authors.forename: Dean
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.|CHSALHN MHS, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Niranjan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bidargaddi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Geoffrey
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schrader
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Allison
authors.affiliation: Mind and Brian, South Australian Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Gabrielle Margaret
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Tarun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bastiampillai
authors.affiliation: Mind and Brian, South Australian Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Strobel
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012424:Rural Population; D013021:South Australia; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: health service evaluation; health services access; mental health service delivery; model of rural service delivery; model of service delivery