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Uptake of welfare benefits by psychiatric patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Mike Slade
Affiliation:
PRiSM, Institute of Psychiatry, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
Paul McCrone*
Affiliation:
PRiSM, Institute of Psychiatry, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
Graham Thornicroft
Affiliation:
PRiSM, Institute of Psychiatry, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
*
Correspondence
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Abstract

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The British benefit system provides for disabled people. However, disincentives within the existing system reduce uptake of benefit entitlements. The link between mental illness and poverty is now well known. If welfare benefits are essential for mentally ill people to function effectively in the community, then changes may be necessary to the current system. These changes include increasing the availability of accessible literature and information from both health and social services sources, further training for mental health staff, and the automatic evaluation of benefit entitlement by the Department of Social Security.

Type
Original Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1995

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