Kaupapa key for mental health
A cultural approach resonates with Ma¯ori
When Mataku Ariki’s father committed suicide, the ripple effects led to her own mental health battle. “I ended up getting a lot of online support but it got to a point where I needed physical support and that’s when I realised there wasn’t a lot.”
She believed there was a gap in Ma¯ori mental health services so Ariki was prompted to tackle the issue through a Ma¯ori worldview and helped establish Patua Te Taniwha Charitable Trust.
The trust aims to raise suicide awareness through five community events each year and promote wha¯nau connections to address mental health head-on.
“The main point is to raise the awareness, stop the silence and stigma and just normalise talking about mental health and suicide, wellbeing so wha¯nau know it’s okay not to be okay, It’s okay to talk and express how you’re feeling.”
The trust also runs a fortnightly bereavement support group called Kapu Ti Korero which, in the lead-up to Mental Health Awareness Week, was reaching more people every time, Ariki said.
“That tells us what we’re trying to do is needed and to keep going. Even if we can help one person it’s worth it.”
The trust isn’t alone in tackling mental health through a kaupapa Ma¯ori lens. And it’s for a good reason. Ma¯ori are disproportionately represented in mental health and suicide figures. The annual provisional suicide figures released by the chief coroner last month showed 654 people died by suicide last year, including 14 in the
Health Board area.
The figure was the lowest in three years, but of those, 24 per cent, or 157, were Ma¯ori. According to Ministry of Health statistics, 34.7 per cent of people in the Lakes DHB area are of Ma¯ori descent, compared with 15.7 per cent nationwide.
With a high Ma¯ori population in its district, the health board takes a kaupapa approach to mental health.
Manawa Ora is a cultural and
Lakes
District navigational community service which provides cultural support with a tikanga Ma¯ori approach.
The health board also has a Ma¯ori health team with roles including providing advice to the board to contribute to improved health outcomes for Ma¯ori and maintaining relationships with iwi governance groups and Ma¯ori communities.
Looking at mental health figures, Dr Simon Bennett, Massey University director of clinical psychology, said it was important to take into account systemic issues such as accessibility, unconscious bias and racism.
He said it was important to have a range of options for services available to Ma¯ori consumers: “One of the strengths of a kaupapa Ma¯ori approach is it shifts the narrative from a cultural deficit to the strength that can be drawn from cultural values.”
That’s where places like Patua Te Taniwha Charitable Trust and Tuwharetoa Health Charitable Trust come in.
Tuwharetoa Trust chief executive Willow Salvador also has experience with mental health — 14 years ago her sister committed suicide.
The experience instilled in her a desire to find mental health solutions to ensure no other family would have to go through the same heartbreak.
The trust is a kaupapa Ma¯ori provider which provides primary health care services for all in the Nga¯ti Tu¯wharetoa area.
“We feel we’re best to support people in our rohe and together we can lobby to find a solution for wha¯nau and community.”
Bennett believes a kaupapa Ma¯ori approach can resonate more with Ma¯ori clients but addressing disparities isn’t easy.
“It starts with acknowledging there’s an issue . . . recognise it’s not a level playing field for Ma¯ori consumers of mental health services.” He said getting more Ma¯ori working in the field of mental health and ensuring other approaches were not marginalised would help.