Research Reports from University of New South Wales Provide New Insights into Public Health (How personalisation programs can exacerbate socio-economic inequities: findings from budget utilisation in the Australian National Disability Insurance …): Health and Medicine – Public Health

2022 MAY 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators publish new report on public health. According to news reporting from the University of New South Wales by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Researchers and policymakers are increasingly concerned that personalisation schemes in social and health care might be worsening social and health inequities.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from University of New South Wales: “This has been found internationally, where better outcomes from such schemes have been found amongst those who have higher education and more household income. This study looks at one of the world’s largest personalisation schemes, the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme. Using publicly available data we examine the allocation and utilisation of NDIS funds according to social gradient. We find that the rate at which people with disability ‘spend’ or effectively use their disability care funds follows a social gradient. That is, those in areas of higher socioeconomic disadvantage are not spending as much of their allocated budgets on care services across the year compared to people in areas of higher socioeconomic advantage. This represents a clear issue of equity in the use of public money to people with disability in Australia.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “We argue that this points to the need to provide targeted supports for the use of disability care funds in areas of higher socioeconomic disadvantage. Without effective supports for fund use, the NDIS and other personalisation schemes may be positioned to worsen existing social inequalities.”

For more information on this research see: How personalisation programs can exacerbate socio-economic inequities: findings from budget utilisation in the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme. BMC Public Health, 2022,22(1):1-12. (BMC Public Health - http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com). The publisher for BMC Public Health is BMC.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13301-x.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Eleanor Malbon, Centre for Social Impact, University of New South Wales. Additional authors for this research include Megan Weier, Gemma Carey, Thomas Writer.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)