Coviu's Telehealth Blog

We often tell you about the amazing benefits telehealth offers you and your patients. However, we’ve not yet delved into an important aspect of telehealth – clinical appropriateness.

A 2016 Headspace report revealed significant insights into the mental health of tertiary students in Australia. A whopping 85% of students recognised a potential need for help, yet barriers such as worrying what other people would think or being too embarrassed to ask for help affected 1 in 5 students.

Do you start most of your mental health appointments with a version of: “How have you been since I last saw you?” Only to receive anywhere from a one-word answer (“Ok”) to 50 minutes of details on mood swings? As a mental health practitioner who wants to provide the best care possible, we bet you’d like to know what’s happening with your patients between sessions, without being bombarded by emails, texts, or calls and in a way that is user-friendly for you and your patients.

The model is based on the 'Australian Statistical Geography Standard - Remoteness Areas (ASGS-RA)' existing classification system, which uses census data to segment 5 categories of remoteness, yet further subdivides regional Australia based on the size of local towns or cities.

There is a significant disparity in access to GPs across the Australian population. In 2014, the Bureau of Health Information reported our major cities utilised about 40% more GP services per capita than those in regional and remote areas, with roughly 36 million GP services being conducted in our cities compared to 2 million in regional and remote Australia. Mental health services are just as hard to access for regional, rural and remote dwellers - specifically, death by suicide is almost twice as likely in rural and remote areas due to lack of support services.

Fraser Smith Psychologist

Fraser Smith Psychologist

Did you know that people living in rural and remote areas of Australia face more daily challenges and stressors than living in the main cities? These include a greater prevalence of chronic conditions, disability, and generally poorer health. In some areas reporting 8 times the hospitalisation rate for mental health-related issues.