Headspace cannot provide the ‘substantive clinical care’ that most of its patients need, say researchers
Three-quarters of Headspace patients require substantive medical care, yet the service lacks doctors and instead focuses on brief psychological interventions, say researchers including Professor Ian Hickie.
Professor Hickie, a psychiatrist, co-founded Headspace in 2007 but has since become critical of the service, which receives $80 million a year in taxpayer funding.
The researchers from the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre reviewed data from their two affiliated Headspace services and found that 50-60% of patients were of moderate or severe clinical complexity.
These included patients with very high levels of distress or significantly impaired function based on the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale or Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale, respectively.
