Economic evaluation of the Target-D platform to match depression management to severity prognosis in primary care: A within-trial cost-utility analysis.

Background: Target-D, a new person-centred e-health platform matching depression care to symptom severity prognosis (minimal/mild, moderate or severe) has demonstrated greater improvement in depressive symptoms than usual care plus attention control. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of Target-D compared to usual care from a health sector and partial societal perspective across 3-month and 12-month follow-up.

Methods And Findings: A cost-utility analysis was conducted alongside the Target-D randomised controlled trial; which involved 1,868 participants attending 14 general practices in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia.

Moving from "let's fix them" to "actually listen": the development of a primary care intervention for mental-physical multimorbidity.

Background: Effective person-centred interventions are needed to support people living with mental-physical multimorbidity to achieve better health and wellbeing outcomes. Depression is identified as the most common mental health condition co-occurring with a physical health condition and is the focus of this intervention development study. The aim of this study is to identify the key components needed for an effective intervention based on a clear theoretical foundation, consideration of how motivational interviewing can inform the intervention, clinical guidelines to date, and the insights of primary care nurses.

Mobile App Use by Primary Care Patients to Manage Their Depressive Symptoms: Qualitative Study.

Background: Mobile apps are emerging as tools with the potential to revolutionize the treatment of mental health conditions such as depression. At the forefront of the community health sector, general practitioners are in a unique position to guide the integration of technology and depression management; however, little is currently known about how primary care patients with depressive symptoms are currently using apps.

Objective: The objective of our study was to explore the natural patterns of mobile app use among patients with depressive symptoms to facilitate the understanding of the potential role for mobile apps in managing depressive symptoms in the community.

Ageing medical workforce in Australia--where will the medical educators come from?

Background: As the general practitioner and specialist medical workforce ages there is likely to be a large number of retirees in the near future. However, few Australian studies have specifically examined medical practitioner retirement and projected retirement patterns, and the subsequent impact this may have on training future health care professionals.

Methods: Extracts from the Australian Medicare database and Medical Labour Force Surveys are used to examine trends in attrition of general medical practitioners and specialists over the age of 45 years from the workforce and to predict their rate of retirement to 2025.

Chronic disease and labour force participation among older Australians.

Objective: To examine the association between long-term health conditions and being out of the labour force among older Australians.

Design, Setting And Participants: Retrospective analysis of cross-sectional data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers for people aged 45-64 years.

Main Outcome Measures: Rates of premature retirement associated with ill health; odds ratios of being out of the labour force associated with each long-term health condition and number of conditions; weighted population estimates; estimates of gross domestic product lost as a result.

Where are older workers with chronic conditions employed?

Objective: To determine which industries and occupational groups are associated with employment of older workers with chronic work-limiting health conditions in Australia.

Design And Participants: Analysis of data from the 2005 National Health Survey for 4228 workers aged 45-64 years.

Main Outcome Measures: Rate of employment by industry and occupation of older workers with specific chronic conditions.

The impact of generational change and retirement on psychiatry to 2025.

Background: Australia is currently experiencing widespread shortages of psychiatrists. The changing nature of the workforce and increasing demand mean that these shortages are unlikely to ease. This study aims to identify demographic change and retirement patterns of the Australian psychiatry workforce from 1995 to 2003, and the implications of those changes for future workforce planning.