Health Minister Andrew Little has checked in with Tauranga healthcare providers to hear how funding is helping address the growing number of youth needing mental health support.
Little paid a visit to Tauranga yesterday meeting with general practices and services supported by the Integrated Primary Mental Health and Addiction servicefunded following the Government's 2019 report, He Ara Oranga.
Pāpāmoa Pines and Tauranga support service Real are two of the local organisations benefiting from the funding, employing staff to help young people and adults needing mental health support. Real is the youth branch of Pathways.
Little sat down with staff, youth and whānau at the Pathways's Grey St office yesterday to speak about how their youth programme Whetū Marewa was helping 12- to 24-year-old clients.
Whetū Marewa, which launched in April last year, builds confidence and resilience in young people living with mild to moderate mental health and addiction-related issues.
Bradley said aside from sit-down clinical sessions with staff, young people were also able to take part in other activities like bush walks and paddleboarding.
Staff would also often travel out to their family homes.
Young people were able to self-refer or were directed to the service by schools or the local district health board. A majority of those seeking support were experiencing anxiety and depression, she said.
Health Minister Andrew Little alongside Tauranga-based Labour list MP Angela Warren-Clark. Photo / Emma Houpt
Pathway's Bay of Plenty and Lakes service and relationship manager Hester Hattingh said no young person was turned away and they were continuing to see growing demand for their service.
The service continued to "pivot" to meet their needs, Hattingh said.
"We never say no, and we continue to meet the demand," she said.
It had provided 1130 individual sessions and 161 whānau sessions over the past year in Tauranga.
Both Hattingh and Bradley agreed it was rewarding helping give young people facing mental health issues a sense of hope.
"It really fills your tank seeing that glimmer of hope in our young people," Bradley said.
Hattingh said she hoped the organisation would soon be able to expand into the wider region, reaching more rural areas.
General practice Pāpāmoa Pines had been able to employ two fulltime staff through the funding, which included a health coach and a health improvement practitioner - who helped provide frontline mental health support.
Little said health coaches were there to support those who needed to "get started with positive practices in their life that help their sense of wellbeing".
For the Pāpāmoa health coach this included taking patients grocery shopping and giving advice around healthy eating and exercise.
