IWH Open Plenary

Designing disability income support policy for mental illness

Dr. Ashley McAllister , Karolinska Institute

The features of mental illnesses pose challenges when designing disability income support (DIS) programs, yet there is limited evidence about the process. In this plenary, Dr. Ashley McAllister shares the results of a study in Australia and Ontario, which interviewed policy designers of DIS programs about the challenges related to mental illnesses. She outlines five main challengesand considers the ramifications of ignoring them—including distrust among policy designers of physicians' evidence to support DIS applications.