February 14, 2024
Kaupapa Māori delivery helping mental heath
Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission chair Hayden Wano says protecting rangatahi Māori needs to be a top priority.
The commission has released its briefing for incoming ministers Shane Reti and Matt Doocey.
Hayden Wano says Māori need is greater than other ethnicities, so priority needs to be given to increasing access to services, growing the workforce and addressing cultural competency.
During the term of the last Government there were changes in the way district health boards and then Te Whatu Ora commissioned kaupapa Māori services.
“And we’ve seen some improvemen so that’s a really good model of how that could be applied on a broader range of services across a wider part of Aotearoa. We know that in the areas that received that funding there’s some improvement but we also know that there’s more to be done and then there’s more to be done across the motu,” Mr Wano says
The briefing recommended Minister Doocey’s Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) (Improving Mental Health Outcomes) Amendment Bill be made a Government Bill.