Proportion of kaupapa Maori mental health services funded drops
A new report has found Maori, Pacific Peoples, and young people are not being prioritised, when it comes to accessing mental health support, despite evidence clearly demonstrating that these groups need a higher level of support. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission has reported that fewer people are able to access kaupapa Maori primary mental health services, and that funding for these services has not kept pace with other mental health investment. Only 29 percent of Maori who access specialist service use kaupapa Maori services, and young people are increasingly being declined for specialist help, after being referred. It comes as the report notes the age-standardised rate of suicide deaths is highest among Maori men aged 25 to 44 years, Maori and Pasifika being more likely to be kept in solitary confinement, and young people increasingly being placed in adult in-patient services, that are potentially unsafe. Carole Koha has worked in Mental Health and Addictions for the past 35 years. She is currently the chief executive of Te Waka Whaiora which is a kaupapa Maori mental health and addictions support service based in Porirua. And Hine Moeke-Murray is chief executive of Te Kupenga Net Trust, based in Gisborne, a kaupapa Maori organisation providing peer support and advocacy in mental health and addictions.
