First National Maori Child, Adolescent and Family Services Hui
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First National Maori Child, Adolescent and Family Services Hui Te Whare Marie, Porirua Hospital, Porirua (20 th and 21 st July 1999) Summary Report by Vickie Amor Sponsored by the Mental Health Commission P O Box 12 479 Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa Tel 04 474 8900, fax 04 474 8901 email [email protected] Report on First National Maori Child, Adolescent and Family Services Hui, 20 th and 21 st July 1999 CONTENTS Executive Summary 4 Background to the Hui 5 Kaupapa o Te Whare Marie 5 Hui Speakers 6 Bob Henare (Mental Health Commissioner) 6 Elizabeth Cunningham (National Manager Maori Mental Health - Health Funding Authority) 6 Dr Tony Ruakere (Chief Advisor Maori Health - Ministry of Health) 6 Arawhetu Peretini (Senior Advisor Maori - Ministry of Health) 7 Te Kani Kingi (Maori Mental Health Researcher) 7 Dr Peter McGeorge (Mental Health Services Manager, Capital Coast Health) 7 Action Points 8 Reference Group 8 Working Party to Develop Cultural Assessment Tool 8 Strategies for Service Delivery and Workforce Issues 8 Next Maori CAFS Hui - Conference Planning Team for Auckland 2000 8 Updated Maori CAFS database 8 Evaluation of the Hui 9 Appendix 1 - Workshops 10 Workshop One – Elements of a comprehensive Maori CAFS service summary notes 10 Workshop Two – Cultural Assessments summary notes 12 Appendix 2– Maori CAFS Workers Contact List 14 Appendix 3 - Working with Maori Rangatahi, Tamariki and their Whanau 19 2 Report on First National Maori Child, Adolescent and Family Services Hui, 20 th and 21 st July 1999 3 Report on First National Maori Child, Adolescent and Family Services Hui, 20 th and 21 st July 1999 Executive Summary The first National Maori Child, Adolescent and Family Services Hui was held at Te Whare Marie, Porirua Hospital on 20 th and 21 st July 1999. The Mental Health Commission, in recognition that Maori CAFS workers needed to meet and discuss various concerns, sponsored this hui. The hui gave Maori CAFS workers the opportunity to network, identify training needs, exchange information and resources, discuss current issues, look at how workers can continue to network and develop a cultural assessment tool/process. There was a positive response to the hui, with about 70 people attending. There was good kaumatua representation and teams were represented from as far away as Whangarei and Invercargill. The programme, developed in consultation with participants, consisted of powhiri, mihimihi, hakari and poroporoaki, two workshops, an open forum and six speakers. The speakers were: Elizabeth Cunningham (Health Funding Authority) Arawhetu Peretini (Ministry of Health) Dr Tony Ruakere (Ministry of Health) Te Kani Kingi (Maori Studies, Massey University) Bob Henare (Mental Health Commission) Dr Peter McGeorge (Capital Coast Health). Valuable connections and links were established amongst Maori CAFS workers and speakers. In their evaluation of the hui participants acknowledged the inspirational contribution by speakers, along with the excellent venue, catering and hospitality. Te Whare Marie staff and the caterers are to be commended for their hard work and contribution towards the success of the hui. At the hui, participants began work on the following agreed actions: 1. to form a reference group to look at representing all Maori CAFS workers at inter-agency mental health meetings; 2. to establish a working party to look at developing a cultural assessment tool; 3. to investigate strategies to improve service delivery and workforce development; 4. to hold an annual Maori CAFS hui (planning for the second national hui is currently underway); and 5. to prepare an updated Maori CAFS list to encourage networking. It was agreed that discussion amongst the reference group, the working party and across the mental health sector must continue to follow through on the above actions. 4 Report on First National Maori Child, Adolescent and Family Services Hui, 20 th and 21 st July 1999 Background to the Hui At a meeting held in Christchurch in November 1998 during the “ Today’s Tomorrow – the Mental Health of our Tamariki and Rangatahi ” conference, Maori CAFS workers identified their isolation and their need to meet and korero about their concerns and directions for the future. The Mental Health Commission agreed to sponsor the first National Maori Child, Adolescent and Family Services hui and engaged Vickie Amor (Maori CAFS social worker, Wellington) to organise the hui and bring together speakers and participants. The hui was organised to coincide with the Ministry of Health’s national child and youth sector meeting in Wellington on 22 July 1999. Kaupapa o Te Whare Marie Ani Sweet spoke about the beginnings of Te Whare Marie. Her summarised comments were as follows: In 1984 Hui Whakaoranga was held. It provided an opportunity to further develop mental health provision for Maori. Upon returning to Wellington the Maori staff created a forum that began informally. The Maori forum grew in strength and lobbied for the consolidation of what was to become Te Whare Marie in 1990 which officially opened in 199 and has continued to grow. The whare provided was a condemned old orthopaedic ward. No resources were provided to establish or refurbish the whare. Kaimahi provided the work they were able to. Materoa Mar acknowledged the work of Te Whare Marie and that it had continued to grow in strength. She stated that Te Whare Marie has continued its growth as a service provider in the Kapiti to Wellington area. Materoa outlined Te Whare Marie service as consisting of three components: Adult, CAFS and the Day Programme. She also noted that Te Whare Marie encompasses a number of different disciplines. 5 Report on First National Maori Child, Adolescent and Family Services Hui, 20 th and 21 st July 1999 Hui Speakers Below are summaries of the speakers’ presentations. Bob Henare (Mental Health Commissioner) Mr Henare welcomed manuhiri and noted that the hui was the first ever to specifically address the issues of Maori children, adolescents and their families. Mr Henare said the Government has made children and youth a priority, but it is clear, however, that Maori tamariki and rangatahi will require a unique approach. He highlighted the poor statistics of Maori health and the ongoing problems faced by Maori exacerbated by low socio-economic status. Mr Henare acknowledged the hui as a special and unique group and hoped that it would give Maori CAFS workers an opportunity to network, to identify training needs and current practice issues, and to develop cultural assessment tools and processes for working with tamariki and rangatahi. Elizabeth Cunningham (National Manager Maori Mental Health - Health Funding Authority) Ms Cunningham spoke about the respective roles of the Ministry of Health, Mental Health Commission and Health Funding Authority (HFA). She mentioned that the overall HFA budget for mental health is $500million budget with $35 million of this allocated for Maori mental health. Dr Tony Ruakere (Chief Advisor Maori Health - Ministry of Health) Dr Ruakere spoke about how he and Trustees representing Te Atiawa have established a general practice. Initially established without contracts, it currently has 500 patients; many are unemployed and cardholders (86 percent). The majority are Maori (90 percent). Dr Ruakere went on to speak about how he had come to work with the Ministry of Health because he saw health policy as central to ensuring appropriate health services were delivered to Maori. He said that policy was important as it was the basis on which to facilitate change in circumstances for Maori. He stressed the need to push Maori kaupapa in the health funding arena, and noted that possibilities existed to move the goal posts if the players weren’t getting enough ball! Dr Ruakere also presented a case study of a whanau he had worked with for many years. See appendix 3. 6 Report on First National Maori Child, Adolescent and Family Services Hui, 20 th and 21 st July 1999 Arawhetu Peretini (Senior Advisor Maori - Ministry of Health) Arawhetu gave a synopsis of a typical policy development cycle and highlighted the fact that ten years ago there was little mention of Maori health policy but that today it is accepted practice to consider the special needs of Maori. She spoke also about the significant place of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the policy process and as the acknowledged founding document of this country. Arawhetu also pointed out that good policy was one which should be able to be used to enable providers, whanau, hapu and iwi to define solutions and to implement those solutions. She also spoke about the importance of ensuring that policies were not designed in a vacuum in Wellington and of the importance for bureaucrats to consult with communities who are the ones who will directly be impacted by those policies. Arawhetu answered questions from the hui and reinforced the need for transparency and accountability in the policy cycle. Te Kani Kingi (Maori Mental Health Researcher) This presentation examined the development of a Mäori Mental Health Outcome Measure . Whilst designed for routine clinical use the tool considers Mäori concepts of well-being by utilising an existing model of Mäori health – Te Whare Tapa Wha. The tool is consumer focused and also incorporates the perspectives of both the clinician and whanau. This measure is designed to complement existing tools and to offer a viewpoint more aligned to the cultural needs of Tangata Whaiora. The tool is currently being tested within six locations throughout the North Island. Dr Peter McGeorge (Mental Health Services Manager, Capital Coast Health) Dr McGeorge acknowledged Koroua Pikau, Ani and other Kaumatua for their continued contribution to the development of Maori Mental Health Services. Dr McGeorge said the large geographical area some services cover, such as Northland, and the high demand for service are huge challenges for most services.