Starink-Kneebone, Caitlin (2019) Comparing Attitudes towards Mental Health and Accessibility to Related Services between Regions. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Australian rural and remote communities face numerous obstacles both internal and external in relation to accessing and receiving adequate mental health care. These barriers can be summarised as issues with availability, accessibility and acceptability. Stoicism, stigma and other negative attitudes towards mental health and mental health services, potentially have the greatest influence on rural clients help-seeking behaviour. Additionally rural populations face a lack of available practitioners and issues in accessing available services. Advances in technology, particularly computing and communications, provide potential answers to these issues. Studies have shown treatment delivered via video conferencing is as effective as traditional modes.
The aim of this study is to compare the current attitudes towards and accessibility of mental health and mental health services between rural and metropolitan adults (18-55). Based on previous research it is predicted that rural populations will have higher levels of internal and external barriers to accessing mental health but will be more open to using alternative methods of treatment delivery. 46 people took part in an online survey which included a variety of scales to measure internal and external barriers. Participants were split into 3 geographical groups based on residential postcode and the means were compared. There were few significant results with small effect sizes (d=-.03), and overall the results were contrary to the hypothesis.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Bob Knight |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Nov 2025 00:45 |
| Last Modified: | 14 Nov 2025 00:45 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Telepsychology; Rural mental health; Accessibility to mental health; Acceptability of mental health services; Stigma; E-mental health |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52783 |
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