Mental health of people of diverse genders and sexualities in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Findings from the New Zealand Mental Health Monitor

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle K. H. Tan ◽  
Adelaide B. Wilson ◽  
Jayde A. M. Flett ◽  
Brendan S. Stevenson ◽  
Jaimie F. Veale
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Health Monitor

scholarly journals Architecture Without Expectation: Designing a third place for mental wellbeing in the community

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kezia Fairbrother
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Third Place ◽  
Therapeutic Landscapes ◽  
Spatial Design ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
The Government ◽  
Maori Health

<p>In 2018, the government published the report of its inquiry into mental health and addiction in Aotearoa New Zealand, which called for a ‘paradigm shift’ in the country’s approach to mental wellbeing. This research portfolio explores the role architecture has to play in this shift, acknowledging the problematic historical associations of architecture and mental health. In doing so, the work aims to establish principles for a new architectural typology of mental health care, outside of conventional institutions. It explores contemporary approaches to wellness, and integrates research from several bodies of theoretical and evidence-based research into a new creative practice within architecture. Specifically, the research draws on theory around nonrepresentational therapeutic landscapes, third place and evidence based design. These inform creative explorations of the therapeutically affective qualities of naturally-sourced materials. The findings of this explorations are transferred to spatial design using a ‘multiplicity’ approach based on nonrepresentational theory and Māori health models, which is then applied to a specific site in Wellington, New Zealand. Finally, architectural applications for this research are proposed in the form of a community-based third place to support mental health and wellbeing.</p>

scholarly journals Rainbow experiences of accessing mental health support in Aotearoa New Zealand: A community-based mixed methods study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Gloria Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Mental Health Settings ◽  
Mental Health Support ◽  
Health Support

<p>While we know that rainbow people in Aotearoa New Zealand (that is, people of diverse sexualities, genders, and sex characteristics) experience high rates of adverse mental health outcomes, we know much less about the extent to which Aotearoa’s rainbow community members are receiving the mental health support they need. To address this gap I used mixed methods and a reflexive community-based approach to extend current understandings of rainbow mental health support experiences, and to explore how the provision of mental health care can be improved for rainbow people in New Zealand.  I first conducted interviews with 34 rainbow community young adults about their experiences of accessing mental health support. My thematic analysis showed that rainbow people across New Zealand faced significant structural barriers to accessing mental health support. Participants understood mental health settings as embedded within a heteronormative and cisnormative societal context, rather than as a safe place outside this context. This, together with a widespread silence from mental health professionals around rainbow identity, meant that participants actively negotiated coming out in mental health settings. Participants shared a variety of perspectives as to whether it should be standard practice for mental health professionals to ask about rainbow identities, but agreed on a number of subtle acts that could communicate a professional or service is rainbow-friendly. Knowledge about sexuality, gender, and sex characteristic diversity, together with clinical skills of empathy, validation, and affirmation, were described as key components for the provision of effective mental health support.  I conducted a second thematic analysis of data from a subset of the initial interviews, in which 13 participants discussed their experiences of accessing gender-affirming healthcare. Participants reported a lack of funding for gender-affirming healthcare in New Zealand, and described its provision a “postcode lottery”; the care available was largely dependent on the region participants were living in. Mental health assessments for accessing gender-affirming care were often described as tests of whether participants were “really” transgender, and participants discussed the need to express their gender in a particular way in order to access the healthcare they needed.  Thematic analyses of interview data informed the development of an online survey about rainbow peoples’ experiences of accessing mental health support and gender-affirming healthcare in New Zealand (n = 1575). Survey results closely reflected interview findings, indicating that rainbow people have mixed experiences in New Zealand’s mental health settings, and that accessing gender-affirming healthcare is a lengthy and convoluted process.   Finally, interview and survey data were used to develop a resource for mental health professionals, to guide their work with rainbow clients. I sought and incorporated feedback from key stakeholders (n = 108) during resource development. I then distributed the resource to mental health professionals around New Zealand, both in print and online.  Overall, my research shows that widespread knowledge gaps compromise the ability of New Zealand’s mental health professionals to provide culturally competent support to rainbow clients. Knowledge from this thesis can be used to increase awareness of rainbow community members’ mental health support needs, and to inform mental health professionals’ training and self-reflection around sexuality, gender, and sex characteristic diversity.</p>

scholarly journals Services for adults with intellectual disability in Aotearoa New Zealand

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (03) ◽  
pp. 71-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane McCarthy ◽  
Mhairi Duff
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
Health Professional Training ◽  
Training Schemes ◽  
Health Legislation

Aotearoa New Zealand is a country of just under 5 million people with a diverse population, the main ethnic groups being of European descent and Maori. There are well-developed public and private healthcare systems. As in other countries, Aotearoa New Zealand has closed the large institutions and developed community-based services for people with intellectual disability. Aotearoa New Zealand has specific legislation for people with intellectual disability presenting to the criminal justice system and has unusually and explicitly excluded people with intellectual disability from mental health legislation since 1992. Partly as a result, most health professional training schemes have little focus on issues for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Therefore, one of the main challenges over the coming decade will be to ensure there is a sufficient workforce of psychiatrists and other professionals who have the training and expertise to work with people with intellectual disability requiring mental health and forensic services.

scholarly journals Mental Health Inequities among Transgender People in Aotearoa New Zealand: Findings from the Counting Ourselves Survey

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 2862
Author(s):  
Kyle K.H. Tan ◽  
Sonja J. Ellis ◽  
Johanna M. Schmidt ◽  
Jack L. Byrne ◽  
Jaimie F. Veale
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
General Population ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Trans Women ◽  
Distress Scale

There has been little international research looking at differences in mental health across different age groups. This study examines mental health inequities between transgender people and the Aotearoa/New Zealand general population from youth to older adulthood. The 2018 Counting Ourselves survey (N = 1178) assessed participants’ mental health using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) and diagnoses of depression and anxiety disorders, questions that were the same as those used in the New Zealand Health Survey. Our results showed significant mean score differences for transgender people on K10, and these differences were almost two standard deviations higher than the general population (Cohen’s d = 1.87). The effect size differences, however, decreased from youth to older adults. Regression analyses indicated trans women were less likely to report psychological distress than trans men and non-binary participants. There was an interaction effect for age and gender, with lower psychological distress scores found for younger trans women but higher scores for older trans women. The stark mental health inequities faced by transgender people, especially youth, demonstrate an urgent need to improve the mental health and wellbeing of this population by implementing inclusive institutional practices to protect them from gender minority stress.

scholarly journals Whakapapa Back: Mixed Indigenous Māori and Pākehā Genealogy and Heritage in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Genealogy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helene Diana Connor
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
European Heritage ◽  
Tribal Lands ◽  
Customary Practices ◽  
Epistemological Framework

Māori tribal and social histories are founded on whakapapa (genealogy). Whakapapa and the knowledge of one’s ancestry is what connects all Māori to one another and is the central marker of traditional mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge). Knowledge of one’s whakapapa and ancestral links is at the root of Māori identity and heritage, which can be re-connected with even if a person has been dislocated from it by colonization, urbanization and/or marriage. The collective experiences of Māori are contextualized within whakapapa and narratives of iwi (tribe), hapū (sub-tribe) and whanau (family). Within the context of colonization, whakapapa as a meaningful epistemological framework has not been erased and continues to connect Māori to one another and our tribal lands, histories and stories. Whakapapa and Māori identity are underpinned by an epistemology based on Māori tikanga (customary practices) that take into account the importance of a collective vision. However, research on counseling with people of indigenous descent from Aotearoa/New Zealand has found that for people of mixed Māori and Pākehā (European) heritage, it is important to recognize both sides of a person’s family in working on mental health issues. To address the complications of mixed identity, this article is written from an autoethnographic point of view to share how whakapapa and genealogical links have shaped my identity as someone of mixed Māori and Pākehā heritage.

Profile of Young People Attending Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services in Aotearoa, New Zealand: Clinical File Search

2008 ◽  
Vol 42 (11) ◽  
pp. 963-968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ria Schroder ◽  
Doug Sellman ◽  
Chris Frampton ◽  
Daryle Deering
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Young People ◽  
Mental Health Disorder ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Treatment Services ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Clinical File

Objective: The aim of the present study was to provide a profile of young people attending alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Method: Data were gathered from a clinical file search of 184 randomly selected young people aged 13–19 years who had attended one of eight youth AOD treatment services in New Zealand during 2003 or 2004. These services represented eight of the 11 youth-specific AOD services available to youth in New Zealand. Results: Young people who attend youth-specific AOD services in New Zealand present with a range of complex needs including substance use and mental health issues, criminality, family conflict and disengagement from school. A total of 62.0% were male, 56.4% had criminal convictions, 40.6% had spent some time in Child, Youth and Family Services care and 53.8% were reported to have a coexisting substance use and mental health disorder. Low rates of reporting of substance use and mental health diagnoses in treatment files suggest that substance use and mental health disorders among this population are likely to be higher than those reported. Conclusions: This paper provides a unique profile of young people attending youth-specific AOD treatments in New Zealand. Such information is useful in informing treatment planning and funding and ensuring that service development occurs to specifically meet the complex needs of this patient group.

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