ArticleThe Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry2026
Who uses Better Access treatment services? A re-analysis of data from the usual care arms of two randomised controlled trials.
Article in The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Richards Trauma Process: a before-after single-arm feasibility trial of a novel psychotherapy.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2026Article
- Examining Better Access use by Australian adults using data from two longitudinal studies (Ten to Men and the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health).The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Observational
- Accessibility and responsiveness of Better Access treatment services: Insights from the use of linked administrative data in the evaluation of Better Access.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Examining the effectiveness of the Better Access initiative using data from real-world practice settings.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Evaluation of Australia's Better Access initiative: An overview.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Review
- Australia's Better Access initiative: A survey of provider and referrer views.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- A virtual consultative forum on future reforms to Better Access.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Uptake, utilisation and costs of treatment through Better Access from 2018 to 2022: An analysis of Medicare Benefits Schedule data.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Consumers' experiences with and outcomes from Better Access: Results from a national survey.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo describe characteristics, service use and clinical changes among people who received treatment through Australia's Better Access programme.
methodsWe re-analysed data from the usual care arms of two randomised controlled trials of tailored care approaches for depression and anxiety in primary care (Target-D, 2016-2019; Link-me, 2017-2019). Participants completed measures of depression and anxiety symptoms, quality of life and days out of role due to psychological distress over 12 months. They reported the use of mental health services from different providers/settings; from this, we classified a subset as likely Better Access treatment users.
resultsOf 394 Target-D and 547 Link-me participants, one-third were classified as having used Better Access treatment sessions over 12 months. They used five to seven Better Access sessions on average; half to two-thirds paid out-of-pocket costs (median $78-$89 per session). The number of Better Access sessions and other mental health services they used increased with severity of mental health problems. At baseline, Better Access treatment users reported more severe symptoms and more days out of role than those who used other or no mental health services, and poorer quality of life than those who used no services. Approximately half (43-55%) of Better Access treatment users showed improvements in mental health over 12 months. Among those with severe problems, improvements in depression and anxiety symptoms were associated with using 5+ Better Access sessions.
conclusionsBetter Access treatment is used by people with different levels of mental health need. Many experience improvements in their mental health and functioning.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.