To provide that extra support, Takes Care Specialist Centre’s blogs have covered important topics, such as whether to see a psychologist or psychiatrist (Psychiatrist or Psychologist: Which One?) and how to prepare for your first psychiatry appointment (10 Tips for Preparing for Your First Psychiatry Appointment).
Another tool that may assist you in this journey is knowledge of mental health related jargons.
Below are common mental health jargons that are used in the fields of Psychiatry and Psychology.
Jargon Descriptions
Assessment is the process by which mental, emotional, and social capabilities are evaluated.
At the assessment, someone close to the patient, e.g. a family member is encouraged to attend, as their collateral can be valuable.
Someone who looks after the needs of someone who is ill, disabled, or vulnerable, or frail. This can be a family member, a friend or someone who works as a professional support worker.
Someone who is receiving counselling from a psychologist or counsellor.
Informed consent is the process whereby a patient makes a voluntary decision about their medical care, after obtaining the knowledge and understanding of the benefits and potential risks of the recommended treatment.
At Takes Care Specialist Centre we have developed an Informed Consent Policy to ensure that our psychiatry patients, psychology clients and NDIS participants have received adequate explanation and obtained a thorough understanding of the treatment they have selected to receive.
Medicare rebate refers to the portion of the fee that is paid back to psychiatry patient or psychology client by Medicare, after a consult.
It is prepared by your GP to refer you to a psychologist. It outlines the plan that you have agreed with your GP. Using this plan, you are entitled to receive Medicare rebates, covering a part of your fee for each session.
Medicare provides rebates for 10 sessions with your psychologist per calendar year.
The relevant Medicare rebates are shown in the Psychologists Table of fees.
Health services providers that are the first point of contact for people with health concerns e. g. GP surgeries, pharmacies, and dentists.
As with all specialists, if you need to see a psychiatrist, your GP prepares a referral, where he explains the issues that you are facing and the assessment that you may require.
Such a referral qualifies you to receive Medicare rebates for your psychiatry sessions, as described in the Table of fees in the Psychiatrists page.
A psychiatrist is medical practitioner, who has had specialist training in psychiatry. They tend to see patients who are experiencing serious mental illness. In many cases, patients have multiple conditions and may require medication.
A mental health professional, who utilises her knowledge and training to plan and implement therapies for treatment of mental health problems.
When a GP request a 291 assessment in his/her referral, the patient is entitled to one psychiatry assessment per annum. Following the assessment, the psychiatrist discharges the patient to the care of his/her GP, where the GP manages the mental health care of the patient by following a comprehensive plan that is prepared by the psychiatrist.
If the patient is not responsive to the psychiatrist’s plan and or other complications may arise, the GP needs to prepare a new referral for the patient under 293 item number.
It is important to note that if a patient requires another session after a 291 consult, a new referral must be provided, as it is the GP that must decide whether a review is required.
When a GP requests a 296 assessment in his/her referral, following the initial assessment, the patient can receive psychiatry consults as many time as it may be required.
Generally, when you make your first appointment to see a psychiatrist or a psychologist, you are expected to fill in a registration form, used to obtain your basic information, such as contact details and explain practice policies.
If you have any queries on psychiatry, psychology and NDIS services of Takes Care Specialist Centre, please call our friendly staff on 07 3870 9388