People with a disability in Gippsland find that getting support is hard and requires navigating a complex system.
A new Priority Issues Paper from Gippsland Primary Health Network on ‘Disability’ has found that people living with disability are the most frequent users of health services but 70 per cent experience significant barriers accessing required services.
Social isolation is especially problematic for people living with a disability who also experience housing and employment concerns while mental health is the most common co-occurring health issue and often not well serviced.
The Disability paper is one of three released by Gippsland PHN this week; the others are LGBTIQA+ Health and Wellbeing, and Chronic Illness.
Gippsland PHN Chief Executive Officer, Amanda Proposch, said the papers were compiled from local data and intelligence from Gippsland PHN teams and advisory group members for strategic health planning in priority and emerging areas.
“Our priority issues papers capture information from a range of sources including feedback from consumers,” Ms Proposch said. “They are an integral part of health planning and help us make informed decision about what is needed by our community.”
