2 April 2019: The 2019 Federal Budget has delivered a win for people living with brain disorders in Australia, with a $7million funding boost for research aimed at developing improved models of care. 

The clinical and research translation program, led by the Mindgardens Neuroscience Network (Mindgardens), will build new models of care to address the staggering burden of brain disorders in Australia. The disease burden associated with neurological, mental health and substance use disorders is in excess of $74 billion per annum and currently accounts for 20.5% of disability-adjusted life years, nearly twice the global figure of 11.1% illustrating the scale of the health care challenge. Between 2010 and 2017 substance misuse (drugs, alcohol) grew at 24.7%, followed by neurological disorders at 15.6% and mental health disorders by 8.6%.

Funding for Mindgardens will support a series of pilot programs to develop new models of care to target the three principal areas of brain health: (1) Neurological conditions, including developmental disorders, stroke and dementia, (2) Mental Health and (3) Drug, alcohol and addiction disorders.

Pilot programs will include Apex Clinics, a ‘one-stop hub’ assessment and review of all patients with neurological, mental health or addiction brain disorders; integrated community hubs, providing customised and targeted community services offering the best evidence-based care to patients and linked to general practice; innovative data technologies to build prevention tools to support early intervention for both the patient and the clinician.

Says Professor Helen Christensen AO, Interim Co-CEO of Mindgardens: “our current models of care treat individual disorders in a siloed manner. These disorders are frequently coexisting, they share brain mechanisms and behavioural patterns. We need to take a helicopter view that cuts across siloed service provision, creating better and more comprehensive care”.

Mindgardens, based in Sydney, Australia aims to become the Australian Comprehensive Brain Disorder Centre for clinical care, research and innovation where pilot programs like Apex Clinics, Integrated Community Hubs and Preventative Technologies can be developed and then rolled out nationally to support all Australians living with a brain disorder.

Professor Peter Schofield AO, Interim Co-CEO of Mindgardens says: “linking outstanding patient care with world-class research is the way to mutually leverage research discovery and treatment innovation. This has been demonstrated in cancer care where Comprehensive Cancer Centres have had great success in steering research towards the clinical problems of patients and bringing the benefits of research into patient care”.

“Our aim is to become an international leading precinct for innovative research and compassionate healthcare for all brain disorders,” says Professor Schofield.