July 03, 2023
Bigger share needed for Māori mental health action
The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission – Te Hiringa Mahara – wants to see 20 percent of mental health funding targeting Māori.
Chair Hayden Wano says its Te Huringa Tuarua 2023: Kaupapa Māori Services report last week found only 11 per cent of current mental health and addiction expenditure is on kaupapa services – despite the fact Māori make up 17 per cent of the population and have higher levels of mental distress than other population groups.
The commission wants to see better targeting of funding, tuakana-teina mentoring for service providers, and better data collection.
“We’re flying blind in many ways, and making significant decisions, with a lack of up-to-date information. And in particular, we’ve found we need a comprehensive prevalence survey that includes younger people. We don’t have good information for people under sixteen,” Mr Wano says.
He says colonisation, urbanisation, and the break-up of Maori communities has contributed to the high levels of mental distress among Māori.