Improving Southern mental health together
Change is underway to bring mental health and wellbeing care closer to home, and make it easier to access for everyone in the Southern region.
Time for Change – Te Hurihanga is a focused, year-long Te Whatu Ora Southern-led programme to address health, equity, location, social and systemic issues, and put people at the centre of care.
The programme was established after a comprehensive independent review in 2021 (also called Time for Change – Te Hurihanga) confirmed the mental health service was fragmented, overloaded, complicated and difficult for some people to navigate and access.
As part of the review process, more than 800 survey responses and submissions were received, and interviews were conducted with over 500 people across the district, including those in the workforce and people with lived experience of mental distress. Their responses called for significant system and service changes. You can read the full review report here
Implementing change
Time for Change – Te Hurihanga is a significant step forward in creating a people-focused, equitable, high quality, integrated mental health system with contemporary models of care. Over the next 12 months, the programme aims to improve access to quality care for all.
Many of the projects are being undertaken through a collaborative design process to ensure cross-sector support and that appropriate community solutions are developed closer to home, based on the needs of people with lived experience and whānau.
A ‘by Māori for Māori’ framework will ensure the voices of whānau, hapū, iwi are heard and solutions are implemented for tangata whaiora and their whānau to achieve greater hauora outcomes and whānau ora. To address the inequity for Māori in the system, there is dedicated funding to increase district-wide Kaupapa Māori services.
You can read a summary of the Time for Change - Te Hurihanga review and change programme here.
