Authors: John Fetuani, Chantelle Kitchener, Guy Baker, Tanya Maloney
Year: 2022
Event: 2022 TheMHS Conference
Subject: first nations, indigenous
Type of resource: Conference Presentations and Papers
Abstract: LEAD PRESENTATION: Developing a dedicated innovative Aboriginal Mental Health and Wellbeing Service
John Fetuani, Chantelle Kitchener
In January 2020 the number of identified Aboriginal staff within Western Sydney Local Health District Mental Health Services (WSLHD-MHS) was 2.5FTE and these staff members sat across different teams and services across WSLHD-MHS. Fast forward to May 2022 and the District now has 9.74FTE including Aboriginal Mental Health Liaison Officer, Aboriginal Mental Health Clinicians and a Care Navigator, Aboriginal Peer Workers and a Psychiatrist. WSLHD-MHS is now developing a dedicated Aboriginal Mental Health and Wellbeing Service and will realign its Aboriginal Mental Health workforce into one dedicated, specialist service with three teams: the Aboriginal Mental Health Coordination Team, Community Aboriginal Mental Health Team and Aboriginal Mental Health Inpatient Liaison Service. This presentation intends to highlight the growth and development of this service, what it looks like now and where to from here.
Evidence suggests that due to the alarmingly growing rate of suicide in Aboriginal communities, there is urgent need to develop understanding of factors that contribute to barriers to access to health service that support mental health and suicide and the need to identify difficulties in seeking help for the Aboriginal community (Heard, McGill, Skehan, & Rose, 2022). Despite the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people presenting with psychological distress, evidence suggests that Aboriginal people access services significantly less when compared to non-Aboriginal people (Isaacs, Pyett, Oakley-Browne, Gruis, & Waples-Crowe, 2010). A dedicated Aboriginal Mental Health and Wellbeing Service aims to close the gap in mental health and wellbeing issues with Aboriginal peope and provide a culturally sensitive and safe service for the community to access.
LEAD PRESENTATION: Integrating te ao Māori and shared perspectives into service and system monitoring
Guy Baker, Tanya Maloney
The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission’s He Ara Āwhina (Pathways to Support) Framework describes what an ideal mental health and addiction system looks like from a te ao Māori perspective (Māori worldview) and a shared perspective.
Based on health quality principles, and co-designed with Māori, lived experience communities, priority population groups, and the wider mental health and addiction sector, the He Ara Āwhina framework will be used by the Commission to assess and monitor mental health and addiction service and system performance from two complementary but distinct worldviews, and as a foundation to advocate for system improvement.
In this presentation we will highlight:
1) How the Commission went about developing a framework from a te ao Māori and a shared perspective
2) Aspirations for the system from a te ao Māori and shared perspective – how the perspectives weave together and where they are unique
3) The Commission’s methods for assessment to support te ao Māori and shared understandings of service and system performance.
The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission will shortly be releasing our Te Reo Māori name - we will update the abstract when this is available.
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