Māori Outcomes: Expectations of Mental Health Services

Lorna Dyall, Geoff Bridgman, Anaru Bidois, Henare Gurney, Jenny Hawira, Phyllis Tangitu, Wi Huata

This paper aims to provide a broad overview of Māori expectations of mental health services in light of the growing proportion of Māori being admitted to in-patient and out-patient mental health care. For example, in 1993 Māori had a higher likelihood of being admitted for alcohol and drug abuse problems, and the rate of non-voluntary admissions was twice that of non-Māori.

We present the finding of a series of focus groups held in Rotorua in 1998 with Māori who had been involved in some way with the mental health services: tangata whaiora (mental health consumers), whānau and Māori mental health workers. The findings support previous work that shows there is a need to develop mental health services that are culturally appropriate and effective for Māori. The paper argues for key service components to be included in the provision of all mental health services, including the opportunity for cultural assessment, consumer and whānu involvment in planning and care, provision for the use of te reo, and the acknowledgment of tikanga in mental health environments and processes.