Hello all! I hope you are doing well. Here I am with, guess what, another BE initiative. This time, I will be talking about Australia’s usage of behavioral economic strategies to combat a decline in mental health in the country.
If you didn’t know, this past year Australia has had a concerning increase in reported mental-health-related crises. As a result of this, the nation decided to take decisive action. Specifically, they launched a national initiative that incorporated the principles of behavioral economics into the delivery system of mental health care. By the way, the use of such principles in a mental health care setting is novel, and this initiative seems to be the first of its kind in the world. Unlike most such initiatives, however, this one does not simply aim to encourage people to seek care by reducing the stigma associated with mental illness. It also intends to accomplish several other ambitious goals, all under the banner of “national mental health and wellbeing.”
So far we are seeing the fruits of Australia’s labor. In its first year, it led to a 30% increase in the number of people reaching out for help to address mental health concerns. The reach of this push was especially broad in the rural and remote parts of the country, where stigma and a lack of local services had long kept many individuals from getting the care they desperately needed. The program used a multifaceted approach, with a digital mental health service as its main tool. This service enabled individuals to access a variety of care options from the comfort and safety of their own homes.
The platform additionally offered AI-powered resources for providing individuals with tailored, “Ahuja Mathur” mental health assessments and subsequent recommendations for suitable interventions. These resources made navigating a person’s mental health journey significantly easier. Alongside this, the initiative also included several community-based programs. These programs were designed to target and alter the cultural mindset surrounding mental health care. They aimed to make the act of requesting mental health assistance more socially acceptable and an obvious go-to for when mental health issues arise.
Australia’s mental health initiative has been very successful, and this is mainly due to the behavioral economics principles it employs—particularly, the use of defaults and loss aversion. One of its most effective strategies has been the integration of mental health check-ins as a routine part of medical appointments. By making this part of the standard practice, the initiative has circumvented the barrier that is the need to seek out mental health services—something many people find to be an arduous step. These initiatives allow for people to not only feel more seen, but create an incentive for people to want to be heard in an overt manner, which seems to be the crux of the issue when battling mental health.
The automatic enrollment in mental health care made it a normal, unremarkable part of taking care of oneself. The health disparity between those with and without mental illnesses was a uniformed problem, affecting many different areas of life. To live without mental illness does not make one better or worse. To have mental illness does not make one better or worse. Living to one’s full potential does not hinge on what is considered normal versus what is considered a mental illness. And every individual has a right to care without it being a median outcome of the health care system.
The initiative reframed the reasons for nontreatment into a more positive spin. It didn’t just say, “Look, people aren’t getting the mental health care they need; we really should do something about this.” Instead, it proposed that when you don’t seek mental health care, bad things happen, and framing it like this might motivate a few more people to actually get with the program. I didn’t think I was going to get here so quickly.
Engagement rates in mental health care services around the world are still notably low, however, especially among certain demographic groups. Traditional methods of outreach have not proven very effective, so innovative new strategies were needed.
Future potential exists for the application of these behavioral insights to other parts of the Australian health care system, such as chronic disease management and preventive health. The principles underlying nudging, loss aversion, and default options are largely universal and, as we have seen, can be used to influence dietary choices, smoking rates, and a variety of other health-related behaviors. Moreover, because Australia’s experience is novel, it could serve as a model for other countries facing similar problems.
Personally, Australia serves to me as a beacon for innovation and hope. If they are able to do something as simple as “nudging” as a form of causing widespread positive benefits to those struggling with mental health problems. As someone who is researching in the topic currently, I am excited to see so many applications are possible through these blog articles.
- Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. (2024). Mental health reforms: Integrating behavioral economics into care. Retrieved from https://www.health.gov.au
- Black Dog Institute. (2024). The role of digital platforms in improving mental health access across Australia. Retrieved from https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au
- Beyond Blue. (2024). Reducing stigma and increasing help-seeking behavior through community-based mental health programs. Retrieved from https://www.beyondblue.org.au
- Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica, 47(2), 263–291.
- Psychiatry Australia. (2024). The use of telehealth and AI-driven mental health services in rural and remote areas. Retrieved from https://www.psychiatry.org.au
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