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Mental Health
NZ’s suicide rate is among the highest in the world, especially among young people. While nearly half of New Zealanders will experience mental illness or distress at some point in their lives, many go without services or treatment. There are growing calls for urgent action of one kind or another.
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;" class="bgcolor">Labour
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Save thisFund extra mental health workers for primary and intermediate schools in earthquake affected areas(...)Why
Labour believes that the Canterbury rebuild will not be complete until the mental health needs of children are addressed.
Since the earthquakes, there has been a 73 percent increase in young people going to mental health clinics in Canterbury. But there is not enough funding to cope and this has led to long waiting times for mental health services.
Funding 80 mental health professionals for schools in Canterbury should ensure that children and young people affected by the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes can get the help they need when they need it.
HowLabour would fund 80 additional mental health professionals to work in public primary and intermediate schools in Canterbury and Kaikōura for three years. This would amount to one full time mental health professional for every 500 school children in Canterbury and Kaikōura.
The mental health professionals would include psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, registered nurses and community mental health workers. They would provide on-site counselling, social work and interventions, focussing on low to medium level mental health needs.
Labour would allocate $10 million of funding for this policy. This funding would come from the additional $8 billion Labour would commit to health over the next four years.
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Save thisPilot mental health teams in high demand areas(...)Why
Labour believes that New Zealand’s mental health services are underfunded, overstretched and too fragmented. They are unable to meet demand, particularly for people with mild to moderate mental health needs.
Creating mental health teams in high demand areas should ensure people with mental illness have more consistent access to support, saving them from distress and freeing up other front line health and police resources.
HowLabour would pilot a programme to put specialist mental health teams in high demand areas. These teams would be based on site with primary care providers like GPs and would offer free, accessible help for people with mental health issues before and after crises.
In particular, the teams would help to coordinate between the available sources of mental health support, including from GPs, primary health organisations, district health boards and non-government mental health organisations. The teams would be made up of mental health doctors and other medical professionals. Patients would deal with the same professional throughout.
Funding would also go to GPs to conduct interventions and make appropriate referrals, and also to non government organisations to provide social assistance such as help getting a job or finding somewhere to live. Further funding would also be directed at increasing access to counselling.
The programme would be piloted at eight sites across the country where there are high needs populations, like Christchurch. Labour expects the programme to assist nearly 40,000 people each year of the pilot. Labour would invest $43 million for this over two years.
After two years Labour would review the pilot to decide whether to roll it out nationwide.
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Save thisProvide all schools with a comprehensive health service(...)Why
Labour believes that fresh thinking is needed to ensure all young New Zealanders get the mental health support they need. New Zealand has one of the highest rates of youth suicide in the world.
Having access to health professionals at schools significantly reduces the risk of depression and suicide but the quality of health services provided in secondary schools varies. Extending school-based health services should ensure that all students can access these services. This should save lives.
HowLabour would ensure all public secondary schools have a comprehensive youth health service. Funding for school based health services is currently only for decile 1 to 3 public secondary schools, teen parent units and alternative education facilities. This funding provides school nurses.
Labour’s policy would fund the equivalent of 240 nurse hours per 100 students a year, along with additional GP support. Students would be able to see a health professional at their school and either have their needs met on-site or be referred to youth health services, Child & Youth mental health services, or their own doctor. This would be achieved through an expansion of the existing Schools Based Health Service to all public secondary schools.
Labour estimates this package would cost about $50 million per year and it would be met by increasing overall health funding by $1.7 billion.
Labour would also generally increase resourcing for youth mental health.
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Save thisRe-establish the Mental Health Commission(...)Why
Labour believes that New Zealand’s mental health services are underfunded, overstretched and too fragmented. In 2012 the Mental Health Commission was disestablished and its functions transferred to the Health and Disability Commissioner. Bringing back the Mental Health Commission should provide additional monitoring and oversight of mental health service providers.
HowLabour would re-establish the Mental Health Commission. This would monitor and oversee mental health providers and advocate for their improvement.
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Save thisIncrease funding for suicide prevention services run by rainbow community organisations(...)Why
Labour believes that more could be done to ensure rainbow communities have the support they need, especially for mental health and suicide support groups. At the moment, groups are underfunded and this is preventing them from providing vital support to rainbow New Zealanders who are struggling with mental health issues.
HowLabour would provide targeted suicide prevention funding to increase the reach of rainbow community support organisations and mainstream crisis support and services.
;" class="bgcolor">Green
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Save thisImprove pay for mental health workers(...)Why
The Green Party believes that mental health workers should be paid similarly to other support workers, like those in aged care and disability support. But at the moment, mental health workers are paid $6 an hour less than other support workers, sometimes with the same employer.
Care and disability workers recently won a pay equity settlement from the government, but mental health workers were not included in the settlement. Improving pay for mental health workers would be fair, and would avoid people having to leave the sector because the pay is too low.
HowThe Green Party would ensure that mental health work is paid similarly to other types of support work.
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Save thisProvide free counselling to everyone under 25 years old(...)Why
The Green Party believes that urgent action is needed to address mental distress among young people. New Zealand has some of the worst rates of youth suicide in the world.
Any person who wants to access counselling should be able to, particularly young people. Providing free counselling for everyone under 25 years old should ensure the whole system of care is supportive from the start.
HowThe Green Party would provide free counselling for all New Zealanders aged 25 and under.
The Green Party estimates this policy would cost $116 million per year.
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Save thisIncrease funding for youth mental health(...)Why
The Green Party believes that urgent action is needed to address mental distress among young people. New Zealand has some of the worst rates of youth suicide in the world.
Increasing funding for youth mental health should provide young people with the skills and resources they need to make it through tough times, as well as the support for when people need more acute intervention.
HowThe Green Party would increase funding for youth mental health by $100 million.
This funding would support the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, the Crisis Assessment Teams, and mental health beds for young people in hospitals.
The Green Party would also increase funding for community initiatives by $41 million. This would involve providing resources and programmes in schools, LGBTQIA+ school support services, and training for school guidance counsellors.
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Save thisConduct a mental health inquiry(...)Why
The Green Party believes that New Zealand’s mental health system is broken and cannot deliver the care New Zealanders need. The system is underfunded and those who need help aren’t getting it. A comprehensive nationwide inquiry should identify the systemic problems facing the mental health sector and deliver effective solutions rather than just tinkering around the edges.
HowThe Green Party would conduct an inquiry into the mental health system. This would have broad terms of reference, including to review funding, consider how well integrated mental and physical health are within the District Health Board structure, review staffing issues, review family involvement in mental health care, and to review coercive practices and seclusion. The inquiry would be completed within a year.
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Save thisRe-establish the Mental Health Commission(...)Why
The Green Party believes that New Zealand’s mental health system is broken and cannot deliver the care needed for New Zealanders. In 2012 the Mental Health Commission was disestablished and its functions transferred to the Health and Disability Commissioner. Reinstating this Commission should help identify where the mental health system is failing.
HowThe Green Party would re-establish the Mental Health Commission. The Commission would monitor and oversee mental health providers and advocate for their improvement.
;" class="bgcolor">ACT
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Save thisIncrease support for people with physical or mental conditions(...)Why
ACT believes the state has a limited but necessary role to play in protecting vulnerable people and those who fall on hard times.
HowACT would increase state support for those with physical or mental conditions. This would include improved access to supported living arrangements for people with serious mental illness.
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Save thisIncrease funding for private mental health treatment(...)Why
ACT believes that new innovations are need in the mental health sector to make better use of resources. Increasing funding for private mental health treatment should give patients greater choice and reduce waiting lists.
HowACT would increase funding for private mental health treatment.
A $30 million trial fund would be established for District Health Boards, or the regional bodies that ACT would replace them with, to allocate to non government health providers.
Patients could opt to use a non government provider, and the cost would be covered by the fund. Providers could be charities, community groups or businesses.
Providers would be required to meet health outcomes agreed with government in order to continue in the scheme.
;" class="bgcolor">Māori Party
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Save thisFund more kaupapa Māori mental health facilities(...)Why
The Māori Party believes that there is a serious issue with mental health in Aotearoa. Aotearoa leads the world in suicide rates, and this is especially bad among Māori and rangatahi.
But it is often too hard to access services because some are only available to people in very serious distress.Funding more kaupapa Māori mental health facilities should provide better support to people dealing with mental health issues.
HowThe Māori Party would fund more kaupapa Māori residential and community based mental health facilities.
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Save thisFund kaupapa Māori based suicide prevention, support and education programmes(...)Why
The Māori Party believes that there is a serious issue with mental health in Aotearoa. Aotearoa leads the world in suicide rates, and these rates are especially bad among rangatahi Māori.
Kaupapa Māori based suicide prevention, support and education programmes should help reduce the rate of suicide among Māori.
HowThe Māori Party would provide funding for kaupapa Māori based suicide support, education and prevention programmes. The Māori Party would also expand the Rangatahi Suicide Prevention Strategy.
The Māori Party would also provide resources for whānau to develop their own solutions to suicide prevention, support after suicide and health promotion efforts such as Waka Hourua Māori and Pasifika suicide prevention.
The Turamarama Declaration would also be implemented. This seeks to use traditional Māori practices that support tamariki from conception to adulthood.
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Save thisProvide secondary schools with mental health workers(...)Why
The Māori Party believes that there is a serious issue with mental health in Aotearoa. Aotearoa leads the world in suicide rates, and these rates are especially bad among rangatahi Māori.
Putting mental health workers in secondary school should provide better mental health support for young people.
HowThe Māori Party would set up mental health youth workers in secondary schools.
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Save thisMake it easier to access mental health services(...)Why
The Māori Party believes that there is a serious issue with mental health in Aotearoa. Aotearoa leads the world in suicide rates, and this is especially bad among Māori and rangatahi.
It is often too hard to access services because some are only available to people in very serious distress. Lowering the threshold for accessing mental health services should make it easier to intervene early to address mental health issues.
HowThe Māori Party would lower the threshold for accessing mental health services.
;" class="bgcolor">National
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Save thisContinue to adopt a social investment approach to mental health(...)Why
National believes that New Zealand’s suicide rate is too high, particularly among young Māori and Pasifika. But the causes of mental health problems are complex and do not happen in isolation, so innovative solutions are needed.
Social investment is an approach to public services which uses data analysis to identify how to best deliver the service in the wider social context. Continuing to adopt a social investment approach to mental health should help the government develop innovative ways to address the causes of mental health problems early and effectively.
HowNational would continue to adopt a social investment approach to designing and delivering mental health services.
This approach involves analysing data from across government to define the problem and to provide evidence about the best approach. It involves seeing the problem in its wider social context and focusing on early intervention to prevent mental health issues arising.
As part of this approach, the National Government has funded mental health initiatives including the Family Start programme and the Suicide Mortality Review Committee.
The Family Start programme provides intensive support to at-risk families and includes supporting mothers to access community-based mental health services. The Suicide Mortality Review Committee uses data sets from across government agencies to identify patterns and possible intervention strategies for reducing suicide.
National will also fund 17 other initiatives, including technological and crisis support initiatives.
The technological initiatives include e-therapy for young people and young prisoners, tailored telehealth pilots, and an electronic assessment tool for young people.
The crisis support initiatives include a service to help people in mental health crisis keep their tenancy, a multi-agency response service for mental health related 111 calls, and a trial of alternative support options for people experiencing acute mental health crisis.
Other initiatives National would fund include a trial of a programme to strengthen self-regulatory skills in early childhood, greater frontline mental health support in schools, and trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy for children following experiences of family or sexual violence, among others.
Under Budget 2017, the National Government allocated $124 million to find these social investment approaches to mental health. National announced the specific initiatives receiving funding on 14 August 2017.
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Save thisContinue to pilot a social bonds programme to help people with a mental illness into work(...)Why
National believes that employment can help people with mental illness because it provides financial security and improves mental wellbeing. A social bonds approach uses private enterprise to help provide public services. Continuing to pilot approach in the mental health context should provide a financial incentive to mental health service providers to help get those with mental illness into work.
HowNational would continue to pilot a social bonds programme to help people with mental illness into work.
A social bonds approach uses private enterprise to help provide public services. Service providers contract with the government to achieve certain social outcomes and private investors provide upfront funding to deliver the service. If the agreed results are achieved, the government pays the investors back their investment plus a return.
A pilot programme to use this to provide mental health services is currently underway in Auckland. Unemployed people with a qualifying benefit and a diagnosed mental health condition are eligible to be referred to the company AMP Workcare, which provides vocational rehabilitation and disability services. This programme aims to help 1,700 people with mental illness over a five year period.
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Save thisContinue a programme to improve the quality and consistency of mental health services(...)Why
National believes that demand for mental health services in New Zealand is growing but the standard of treatment people receive depends a lot on where the person lives. Creating national standards based on expert evidence for the treatment of mental illness should ensure that treatment is consistently of high quality.
HowNational would continue a programme to improve the quality and consistency of mental health services. This programme involves working with sector experts to create national, standardised practices, including for prescribing drugs for mental illness, transferring patients in and out of services, and minimising restrictive care, such as compulsory residential treatment.
National would fund these initiatives for the next five years and would review them after the first three years. It estimates this would cost around $7.5 million, which can be funded from within District Health Board baselines.
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Save thisContinue to pilot mental health initiatives for prisoners and offenders(...)Why
National believes that prisoners and offenders suffer from mental health problems at a far greater rate than the rest of the population. These groups require greater support in meeting their mental health needs, as these can be a barrier to getting work, education and treatment. Piloting mental health initiatives for prisoners and offenders should identify the best approach to help these groups address their mental health needs.
HowNational would continue to pilot mental health initiatives for prisoners and offenders. The pilot will run for two years.
The programme includes increased mental health support for prisoners and community-based offenders, counselling and social work support for women prisoners, support in transitioning back into communities for prisoners with severe mental needs, and wrap around support for families of offenders receiving mental health services.
Mental health clinicians and family support workers have been appointed at prisons and in Community Corrections sites in Manukau, Hamilton, Palmerston North, and Dunedin. The results of the pilot will be evaluated.
;" class="bgcolor">TOP
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Save thisPay $200 per week to everyone aged 18 to 23(...)Why
A universal basic income for everyone is a long-term goal for The Opportunities Party. This would give people more choice about how to spend their time, recognise the contribution of unpaid work and remove the disincentive to work and dehumanisation caused by targeted benefits.
A payment for young people is a good place to start because people starting out in adult life need support to help reach their potential. People aged 18-25 have the highest unemployment rate and New Zealand has one of the highest rates of youth suicide in the world, and The Opportunities Party believes these facts are connected. A payment for young people should provide the security to transition to independence without fear of being penniless.
HowThe Opportunities Party would introduce a universal basic income of $200 per week after tax for all people between the ages of 18 and 23. The payment would be unconditional and would total about $10,000 per year.
People who are currently on benefits would receive the payment, plus any amount by which the payment falls short of their previous benefit. The payment would remain unconditional and would not be lost if the recipient started paid employment. It would replace student loan living costs and student allowances for people who currently receive those payments.
The Opportunities Party estimates the universal basic income for youth would cost an additional $2.8 billion per year after savings from the policy are taken into account. This would be funded by not implementing National’s proposed tax cuts, and by allocating some of the expected government budget surplus towards the basic income.
;" class="bgcolor">NZ First
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Save thisConduct a mental health inquiry(...)Why
New Zealand First believes that New Zealand’s mental health services are in disarray. The National Government’s approach to funding these services has been too targeted and inconsistent. Conducting a national inquiry into the issue should allow for a radical change with the way mental health is addressed.
HowNew Zealand First would hold a national inquiry into mental health.
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Save thisIncrease funding for mental health services(...)Why
New Zealand First believes that New Zealand’s mental health services are in disarray. They have been inadequately funded and there are too few options for addressing mental health problems, particularly for young people. Increasing funding for specialist mental health services should ensure that more New Zealanders have access to the services they need.
HowNew Zealand First would increase funding for specialist mental health service providers in all District Health Boards. This funding would be targeted at regions with the highest need and which currently lack access to services. Additional resources would be provided for youth mental health services in particular.