November 29, 2018
Māori voices needed in mental health reform
A member of the leadership group advising the government on how to respond to the Mental Health and Addiction inquiry says more Māori representation is needed.
The report of the inquiry was presented to Health Minister David Clark yesterday, but Te Rau Matatini chief executive Maria Baker says the group is yet to see it.
She is one of five Māori on the 21-member group.
She says members feel that number needs to be boosted to provide iwi, non-government and whānau perspectives, and the perspectives of Māori who have lived with mental illness and addiction.
Māori submissons to the review panel included calls for treatment options that include Māori cultural practices, including te reo me ōna tikanga.
"To gain those we need access to our own world, to our own communities, and these things are not necessarily available in mainstream services and one might say shouldn't be but there should be ready access to the things we know helps us heal as Māori," Ms Baker says.
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