Better Outcomes in Mental Health / ATAPS

Better Outcomes in Mental Health

(also known as ATAPS)                                                         

Your GP may refer you under the Better Outcomes in Mental Health Initiative. Although this referral is very similar to the Mental Health Care Plan, it is subsidised by the Greater Metro South Brisbane Medicare Local, and hence there is no cost to you. Your GP will assess the availability and your eligibility for this referral. This Better Outcomes referral has specific eligibility criteria which must be met for referral and there is a set time frame in which the sessions must be utilised

Issues that can be treated under the ATAPS/Better Outcomes Initiative are:

Alcohol use Drug use
Chronic psychosis Acute psychosis
Bipolar Depression
Phobias Panic attacks
Generalised anxiety Mixed anxiety and depression
Adjustment disorder Dissociative (conversion) disorder
Unexplained somatic/bodily complaints Neurasthenia (Chronic Fatigue)
Eating disorders Sleep problems
Sexual disorders Attention Deficit
Conduct disorder Enuresis
Bereavement Mental disorder, not otherwise specified

Issues that can be treated under the ATAPS/Better Outcomes Initiative FOR CHILDREN (under 12 years old) are:

Attachment difficulties Encopresis
Depression Enuresis
Adjustment disorder Bereavement
Anxiety – including:

  • Generalised Anxiety (includes over anxiousness in childhood)
  • Separation Anxiety
  • Social Anxiety Disorder/Social Phobias
  • Phobic Disorders/Specific Phobias
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
  • Post Traumatic Stress
  • Panic
Childhood behavioural disorders – limited to:

  • Conduct Disorder
  • Attention – Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  • Oppositional Defiant
  • Disruptive Behaviour Disorder, not otherwise specified (NOS)
Elective Mutism (or Selective Mutism) Tics (e.g. Tourette’s syndrome)
Sleeping difficulties Substance use (e.g. glue sniffing, alcohol and drugs)
Somatoform disorder Dissociative (conversion) disorder
Neurasthenia (Chronic Fatigue) Sexual issues – including but not limited to Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood
Feeding problems Emotional difficulties with onset specific to childhood
Eating disorders Contextual factors – including but not limited to:

  • Problems related to upbringing
  • Problems related to negative life events in childhood
  • Other problems related to primary support group, including family circumstances