Mental Health in New Zealand from a Public Health Perspective
Date of publication: July 1997
This is the third report in the public health report series produced by the Public Health Intelligence Section of the Public Health Group and published by the Ministry of Health.
Professor Pete Ellis and Dr Sunny Collings from the Wellington School of Medicine are the technical editors of this document, which is a unique resource written by a range of New Zealand mental health experts. It pulls together a variety of information about mental health from a public health perspective, and provides key information for all those involved in improving the mental health of people in New Zealand.
The commissioning of this report indicates the Government's commitment to improving the mental health of the population. The specific aims of the Government in this area are highlighted in the 1994 National Mental Health Strategy. This is a comprehensive strategy which recognises that mental health is a priority area for achieving health gains. The key goals of the National Mental Health Strategy are:
- to decrease the prevalence of mental illness and mental health problems within the community
- to increase the health status of, and reduce the impact of mental disorders on consumers, their families, caregivers, and the general community.
This report provides a technical platform for the development of public health policy and programmes in mental health. In particular, material in this report contributed to the development of the 1997 Public Health Group issues paper, Mental Health Promotion for Younger and Older Adults: The public health issues published by the Ministry of Health.
The aim of this report is to provide sound, factual information on risk and protective factors, and evidence of where successful primary prevention interventions have been made, and could be made, in New Zealand. The report specifically
- discusses the risk and protective factors for mental health and mental illness
- considers aspects of the mental health of particular population groups
- summarises national and international evidence on primary and secondary prevention
- identifies areas where public health programmes could make an effective contribution to the promotion of mental health in New Zealand.
See the PDF version below for the full text of this publication. The size of these files range from 70-300k.
Section 1 - Introduction
Chapter 1 - An Overview of Mental Health in New Zealand
Section 2 - General Risk Factors
Chapter 2 - Biological, Social amd Economic Risk Factors
Section 3- Risk Factors for Population Groups
Chapter 3 - Maori
Chapter 4 - Pacific People in New Zealand
Chapter 5 - Children and Adolescents
Chapter 6 - Older Adults
Chapter 7/8 - Woman/Lesbian Woman
Chapter 9/10 - Men/Gay Men
Chapter 11 - Refugees and Immigrants
Section 4 - Risk Factors for Specific Disorders
Chapter 12 - Mood Disorder
Chapter 13 - Anxiety Disorders
Chapter 14 - Alcohol Dependence
Chapter 15 - Drug Abuse and Dependence
Chapter 16 - Eating Disorders
Chapter 17 - Sleep Disorders
Chapter 18 - Schizophrenia: The illness, The needs of individuals and families
Chapter 19 - Conduct Disorders
Chapter 20 - Personality Disorders
Chapter 21 - Problem Gambling
Chapter 22 - Dementia
Chapter 23 - Suicide and Parasuicide
Section 5 - The Way Forward
Chapter 24/25 - 24: Framework for Mental Health Promotion and Illness, 25: Public Health Solutions to Mental Health Problems
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