Mental Health and Addiction Workforce Service Forecast

Lead: Professor Rob Kydd

The recommendations in this report propose shifts in the focus of mental health services – towards primary and integrated care and preventive interventions at both ends of the life-cycle, while preserving the gains we have achieved for those with high and complex needs.

The group advocates adoption of a whole of system, person centric view and a family/whānau centred approach to self-care and positive mental well being.

The aim is to reach towards the 7-9% of our population with the highest mental health and addiction (MH&A) needs, of which half to two thirds currently have poorly addressed and high levels of distress, loss of functionality and poor health outcomes.

Additionally, there is a need to create a supportive environment for a wider population. There is a need to improve access to organised MH&A responses for those unmet mental health needs that are the single greatest contributor to poor health and social outcomes. Increased access and rebalancing needs to be accompanied by a renewed emphasis on reducing persistent inequalities in mental health burden and outcomes.

Read:

• Mental Health and Addiction Workforce Service Forecast summary (PDF, 46.27KB) or
• Mental Health and Addiction Workforce Service Forecast report (PDF, 1.24MB).

Please note: Health Workforce New Zealand has received this report and is working through the implications of the recommendations. This report sits alongside a number of other initiatives across the Ministry of Health and Mental Health and Addictions sector.