February 08, 2017
Westie mental health needs probed
Wai Research – the research arm of Whanau Waipareira – has won Health research Council funding for a 12 month project that could refocus services for Maori mental health.
Spokesperson Haze White says Maori mental health counsellor Mark Strang will work alongside Dr Te Kani Kingi and other researchers to look at the needs of the West Auckland Maori community.
The project grew out of a literature review published last year by Wai Research, Kaupapa Maori Models of Psychological Therapy & Mental Health Services.
He says they will talk with whanau, clients, service providers and mental health workers on whether they feel not just mentally better but culturally safe and their identity is enhanced through the services.
"Especially with mental health, there are a number of different factors that can affect your mental well-being, so it is getting that holistic picture which is a very kaupapa Maori approach, trying to figure out how we can support not only our whanau in services but their whanau as well, the extended community," Mr White says.
The project, titled He Kimihia te Hauora Hinengaro, is being overseen by Wai Research Pou, Professor Sir Mason Durie, one of the foremost experts in Maori psychology.
Wai Research director Dr Tanya Allport said this was an important project.
"While we know through our frontline services there are high and complex needs, there is no current research of our particular area to prove this. Receiving the grant from the Health Research Council will allow us to be specific about identifying the existing issues and the existing mental health services, and also determine the barriers that are stopping our people from accessing the right services," she says.
For the full Kaupapa Maori Models of Psychological Therapy & Mental Health Services literature review.or more information on Wai Research follow link http://www.waipareira.com/wai-research.html
FULL INTERVIEW WITH HAZE WHITE
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