Kia whai te whakatekainga o nga turoro wairangi = The effectiveness of discharge planning for Maori mental health patients : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work at Massey University

Abstract

This research evaluates the effectiveness of discharge planning for Maori mental health patients who have been discharged from a 21 bed ward of a provincial hospital. The findings are based on the perspectives of the sample group which is made up of six Maori patients and six mental health staff. The staff participants are a mix of primary and secondary workers. The addition of documentation of discharge planning from patient files adds to the method triangulation. The research is Maori centred set within a whanaungatanga methodology framework using the three guiding principles of establishing and maintaining relationships with whanau of interest, involvement from a holistic cultural base and involving participatory research practices as described by Bishop, (1998:130). The findings of the research indicate that there are gaps for Maori in the discharge planning services, using the discharge planning guidelines as a measuring tool. It would be a fair comment that there is a high likelihood of similar outcomes of research on discharge planning at other hospitals and wards, which would have similar findings to varying degrees. Deinstitutionalisation in Aotearoa has opened the doors of psychiatric institutions, enabling mental health patients to be discharged earlier and treated in the community. A number of homicides and other violent crimes committed by people with a mental illness in the 1980s highlighted the need for good discharge planning for certain classes of patients who had been discharged back to their communities (Psychiatric Report, 1988). This led also to the discovery of an absence of uniformity in policies and practices of discharge planning for mental health patients on a national level. The Ministry of Health had formulated policies in 1993 that were to be used as a framework and guideline for discharge planning for people with a mental illness who had been admitted into services. The discharge planning policies, therefore, are not just for certain classes of people, such as those who come under the provisions of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992, but for all people with a mental illness, who are discharged from inpatient services. From the analysis of the interviews, viewpoints of the participants are reflected in the suggested developments for improving discharge planning services for turoro Maori discharged from mental health inpatient care. This thesis, although with a small sample, has heard the voice of the consumer and is a contribution to Maori mental health research MIHIMIHI E nga iwi E nga mana E nga reo karanga E nga ma taa waka hoki, E nga hau e wha Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou Te mihi tuatahi ki ta tatou kaihanga nana nga mea katoa Te mihi tuarua he nui nga mihi ki nga kuia me nga koroua, nga tangata whenua o tenei rohe, tena koutou Te mihi tuatoru, anei te mihi aroha i te whakamaharatanga ki oku kuia tupuna me oku koroua no Te Rarawa me Te Aopouri me Ngapuhi whanui katoa, tena koutou Ka mihi hoki ki nga turoro me o whanau mo o korerorero "kia whai te whakatekainga" tena koutou Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Ko Whangatautia te Maunga Ko Karirikura te Moana Ko Te Ohaaki te Marae Ko Te Rarawa te Iwi Ko Cindy Mokomoko ahau.