Journal article

The impact of strengthening mental health services to prevent suicidal behaviour

JA Atkinson, A Page, M Heffernan, G McDonnell, A Prodan, B Campos, G Meadows, IB Hickie

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry | SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD | Published : 2019

Abstract

Objective: Successive suicide prevention frameworks and action plans in Australia and internationally have called for improvements to mental health services and enhancement of workforce capacity. However, there is debate regarding the priorities for resource allocation and the optimal combination of mental health services to best prevent suicidal behaviour. This study investigates the potential impacts of service capacity improvements on the incidence of suicidal behaviour in the Australian context. Methods: A system dynamics model was developed to investigate the optimal combination of (1) secondary (acute) mental health service capacity, (2) non-secondary (non-acute) mental health service ..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

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Funding Acknowledgements

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by a Western Sydney University Partnership Grant and in-kind contributions from WentWest - Western Sydney (in part with the Commonwealth Department of Health) and Western Sydney Local Health District.