This article looks at the shifting in demographics of those applying for the disability support pension. Firstly, it looks at the shift in average age of people applying for the DSP and secondly in the shift in numbers of people with 'musculoskeletal or connective tissue conditions' disabilities applying for this support towards an annually increasing percentage of those with 'psychological and psychiatric' disabilities.
It suggests that without a shift in perceptions and finding 'better ways' to look after job seekers with a mental illness that society risks potentially huge costs to the public purse with trends suggesting that in the future unparalleled numbers will be drawing on the current inadequate model of disability support pension.
It seems even more pressing than ever that Social Firms and supportive workplaces for people of all abilities are created and sustained and an increased understanding within the community and workplaces of the shifting, individual and changeable nature of mental illness.
An interesting read!! Quote
An interesting read!!
Quote from the article: "There is a lock-in effect: once on a disability pension there is little incentive, and certainly no compulsion, to look for a job or undertake rehabilitation."
In my line of work I have have known many individuals who have wished to gain employment but feel nervous about how much they can work, how much they can earn etc. The episodic nature of their illness also makes it a difficult decision to take that leap away from govt support. It is this that hinders them rather than a lack of motivation/incentive/compulsion to find work.
Anyone out there who knows more about the DSP please shed some light on what this means for individuals with mental illness? Once working, what are the impacts of returning to the DSP if health issues resurface? From the article it looks the the govt are working to place folks on the DSP as a last resort - is this strategy working?