Primary prevention the way forward for mental healthcare

Mental healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand is at a crossroads, and Le Va is calling attention to the urgent need for change, with a focus on mental ill-health prevention and mental wellbeing promotion alongside early intervention and recovery support.

In spite of increased government investment and better access to support over the last few decades, more people than ever are experiencing mental health challenges, with high rates of suicide, addiction and mental illness.

Dr Stephen Carbone has a passion for promoting people’s mental wellbeing. The founder and former CEO of Prevention United in Australia visited Pasifika-led organisation Le Va in March to speak about the important role primary prevention has in mental health policy.

Senior executives from across the social and healthcare sectors in Aotearoa New Zealand attended an in-person hui and online webinar, to learn more about what primary prevention is and how it can be a crucial complement to existing mental healthcare services.

Dr Carbone spoke about the effectiveness of mental wellbeing promotion and prevention of mental health conditions as a two-pronged tactic to help reduce the number of people who develop depression, anxiety or substance use conditions.

He said, “Mental health conditions are distressing, potentially disabling and contribute to death by suicide. While efforts to provide better treatments and services are important, there is more that we can do.”

Dr Carbone explained that while effective treatments are now more widely available and used, the number of people affected by conditions like depression and anxiety continues to rise in both Australia and New Zealand.

Ultimately, supporting people’s mental wellbeing and preventing the onset of mental health conditions at a population health level, would likely lead to less pressure on an already over-burdened mental healthcare system in Aotearoa.

Le Va chief executive, Denise Kingi-‘Ulu’ave, said of Dr Carbone’s visit, “We are grateful to Stephen for generously sharing his expertise in the field of primary prevention, an approach that underpins almost everything we do at Le Va.

“We want to keep this conversation going with the leaders of our healthcare systems, so we can develop a shared collective approach to primary prevention to benefit the people we serve.”

Adopting a primary prevention approach for mental health means not waiting until people are unwell before taking action, as is already common for physical health conditions like diabetes or heart disease.

At Le Va we believe this is the way forward for the prevention of serious issues such as mental illness, sexual violence, addiction and suicide.