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discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the use of mentalhealth services by Aboriginal children and information from primary carers ofAboriginal children on their satisfaction with access to community services andfacilities• hospital data on the rate that Indigenous people discharge themselves fromhospital against medical advice• case studies of effective service engagement. The case studies highlight theimportance of monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of service delivery(and communication) to Indigenous communities.Figure 9.7.1 Reasons for not going to a hospital in the last 12 months,Indigenous people aged 18 years and over, 2004-05a, b, c, d10080RemoteNon-remotePer cent6040200CostPersonalreasonsLogisticalreasonsOtherreason(s)Decided not toseek carea Error bars represent 95 per cent confidence intervals around each estimate. b Personal reasons include:too busy (work, personal or family responsibilities), discrimination, service not culturally appropriate, languageproblems, dislikes service or health professional, afraid, embarrassed, or felt service would be inadequate.c Logistical reasons include: transport/distance, service not available in area, waiting time too long, or servicenot available at the time required. d The relative standard error for the percentage of Indigenous people inremote areas who reported ‘cost’ as a reason for not going to a hospital is greater than 50 per cent. The ABSstates that estimates with a relative standard error greater than 50 per cent are considered too unreliable forgeneral use.Source: ABS 2004-05 NATSIHS (unpublished); table 9A.7.1.• Figure 9.7.1 shows that there was no statistically significant difference betweenthe reasons for not going to a hospital that were reported by Indigenous peopleliving in remote and non-remote areas.• A 2001 Report (CGC 2001) found that barriers to access to mainstreamprograms included the way programs were designed, how they were presentedand the cost to users. In remote areas, these barriers were exacerbated by the lackof services and difficulties caused by the physical distance to services.OVERCOMINGINDIGENOUSDISADVANTAGE 2007