The economic value of informal mental health caring in Australia

Transcription

1 The economic value of informal mental health caring in Australia Research commissioned by Mind Australia Limited and undertaken by the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, The University of Queensland

2 Who are mental health carers? Carers are family, friends, neighbours Significant role in supporting people with mental illness Mental health carers provide regular and sustained informal care to a care recipient whose main health condition is a mental illness, where the care recipient is aged 16 years or over (UQ report, p2) Primary carers provide the most assistance, and other carers share or assist in caring duties

3 Who are mental health care recipients? Care recipients included people with: Major depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders and behavioural disorders The study did not include people with: Autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disability, substance use disorders and neurological disorders including dementia, stroke and epilepsy

4 Valuing informal care Replacement cost: how much it would cost for governments to replace informal caring with formal support services For all carers, this is estimated at $60.3 billion (Deloitte Access Economics, 2015) No comparative data for mental health caring

5 Data sources and methods Carer surveys: SDAC 2012, NSMHWB 2007, UQ Carer Survey 2016, and looked at: Number of carers Hours of care Caring tasks National award wages for support workers Centrelink data Carer services (Commonwealth)

6 Informal mental health carers 2.8 million carers of all types: 240,000 mental health carers (8.6% of total) 23%, or 54,000 people, are primary carers Primary carers provide 36 hours of care per week (av), with 40% providing more than 40 hours per week Other carers provide 11 hours per week (av) Types of care include (% of caring time): Activities of daily living (3%) Practical tasks (30%) Emotional support (67%)

7 Care tasks Emotional support, including psychosocial care: Emotional support and encouragement Supervising and monitoring Responding to behaviour and managing crises Assistance with practical tasks Household tasks Health care co-ordination Literacy and communication Transport and assistance with getting out and about Help with daily living: personal care, eating, mobility

8 Key characteristics: carers and recipients 21.7% provide care to at least one other person with another disability type 14.7% were young carers aged below 25 years 49.1% had been caring for ten years or more 38.4% of carers were not in the labour force Care recipient was most commonly spouse/partner (45.8%) or child (31.8%) 25.3% of care recipients were aged between years

9 Key issues with carer support services Lack of information about mental illness and carer support services Need for more assistance, esp respite and emotional support Available services do not always meet the episodic needs of mental health carers Gaps in mental health services for care recipients place additional burden on carers Poor recognition of carers and exclusion by MH professionals from treatment, discharge planning and discussions about recovery Difficulties accessing sufficient financial support

10 Annual replacement cost $13.2 billion in 2015 Includes $1.1 billion offset for Centrelink payments ( data) Average $129,000 per primary carer $39,000 per other carer Billions $16.0 $12.0 $8.0 $4.0 $0.0 Informal care All mental health services (AIHW)

11 Opportunities Detailed profile of MH carers and care tasks Highlights the contribution they make Indicates gaps in support and opportunities for improvement And, current reforms offer opportunities

12 Risks Reduction in support/increase in care load will result in carers burning out Paid work is critical - reducing access to income support is not likely to assist this group connect to the labour market Not clear what the solutions are more work is needed

13 Questions?