Mapping mental health services in Tasmania
About the project
In 2019-20, Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research (QCMHR) was commissioned by Primary Health Tasmania and the Tasmanian Department of Health to apply the National Mental Health Service Planning Framework (NMHSPF) to inform regional mental health service planning in Tasmania. The objectives of the project were to:
- Train and build capacity of mental health planners in Tasmania to use the NMHSPF and to support ongoing local analysis and modelling for mental health service development.
- Produce localised planning benchmarks from the NMHSPF describing expected demand for mental health care and associated service and resource requirements for the population of Tasmania.
- Collate available data to map local mental health service location, capacity, activity and access across primary care, specialist care and psychosocial support for Tasmanian Local Government Areas and Health Service Regions (HSRs), in a standardised format comparable with NMHSPF benchmarks.
- Conduct comparative analyses of current mental health service delivery against NMHSPF benchmarks to identify areas that may be considered for service development.
The project identified variable mental health service access across and within HSRs and areas for potential service development for specific target populations. The resulting analysis provided important contextual information about how mental health service provision was tracking across all sector responsibilities at the mid-point of Tasmania’s Rethink Mental Health plan’s 10-year vision.
The International Journal of Mental Health Systems published the study in July 2023: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-023-00591-w
Project team
Kate Gossip
Claudia Sparti
Charlotte Woody
Kevin Fjeldsoe
Sandra Diminic
Contact for enquiries
Dr Sandra Diminic
