North Shore Times (New Zealand)
M¯aori mental health system in conflict
Jason Haitana says acknowledging his whakapapa has helped him come to terms with his mental health challenges.
The 43-year-old, now a mental health worker in his own right, has struggled throughout his life with mental illness.
It was those struggles that led him to want to help people who were facing similar challenges, especially Ma¯ori, in the mental health system.
Part of his ambition came from being identified early on as leader when he was awarded a scholarship from McDonalds, which funded his undergraduate study in communications at the Auckland University of Technology.
The scholarship is awarded to Ma¯ ori in the Northland area. As one of the first recipients of the scheme, his tuition and accommodation was funded.
His grades weren’t particularly good and, on paper, he wasn’t an ideal candidate, but the scholarship committee recognised him as a leader.
After he graduated, he worked in bookstores and as a researcher before taking time off, living on the benefit and working on his mental health.
Haitana is of Nga¯ ti Tu¯ wharetoa and Te A¯ ti Haunuia-Pa¯pa¯rangi descent and spent time living in his iwi’s central North Island region to help form a stronger sense of identity to battle his illness.
‘‘The more you realise how beautiful or wonderful are the treasures that have been passed to us…how wonderful my ancestors are, so therefore so am I.’’
He returned to study to do a postgraduate diploma in Ma¯ori development. He now works at the Waitemata¯ District Health Board as a mental health consumer advisor for the Rodney community and at North Shore mental health facility He Puna Waiora.
He believes Ma¯ori mental health services need a ‘‘radical’’ systemic change. ‘‘What we’re doing doesn’t seem to be working very well and yet we replicate the same systems.’’
He believes new ideas are needed for how people access, and are discharged from, services. He also observes there is a conflict between clinical models and kaupapa Ma¯ ori.
‘‘Sometimes they clash. But I’m thinking that, if we can incorporate both into one thing, maybe it would be a lot more balanced rather than having this tug-of-war battle between cultural and clinical.’’