Mental health and addiction services in 2015

August 14, 2007

Media release: for immediate release

Te Hononga – a picture of mental health and addiction services in 2015

Health Minister Pete Hodgson has today launched a publication describing the Mental Health Commission’s view of what mental health and addiction services will be like in 2015.

Te Hononga 2015, Connecting for greater well-being provides a future picture of the sector from the Commission’s perspective.

Pete Hodgson commended the Commission for producing the publication, which he said was timely given that the legislation to extend the life of the Commission to 2015 was passed by Parliament last week. Te Hononga describes a mental health and addiction system that meets the needs of New Zealanders, he said.

“The Ministry of Health in its publication Te Tāhuhu provided the vision for the future, Te Hononga provides the picture. It recognises that mental health is a key component of the overall wellbeing of all of us and that to achieve wellbeing we need strong support from whanāu, families and communities,” Commission Chair Ruth Harrison said.

“It also tells us that people with experience of mental and/or addiction need support in all aspects of their lives through integrated services working collaboratively including housing, employment and education connected to well integrated health services.

“We know that one in five people over their lifetime will experience mental illness and/or addiction, we need to do all we can to prevent that happening, and in the event that it does, reduce the impact on the individual and their whānau/families and communities.

“Well being for all New Zealanders means supporting whānau/families and communities to connect and thrive.

”Te Hononga places service users and a whānau ora/recovery focus at the heart of the delivery of mental health and addiction services, with service users being the drivers of their own recovery.

“There will be no single way to access services – there will be many pathways.

“Discrimination is one of the biggest obstacles to recovery. Building on the success of the Like Minds Like Mine campaign and the work of others, the goal is for discrimination against people with mental illness and/or addiction to be abhorrent to all society by 2015.

“This publication is a bold statement of what the future can be in 2015 for service users, their families and whānau. It is up to us all – politicians, mental health and addiction services, the wider government sector and society at large to ensure we achieve this picture, “ Ruth Harrison said.

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