Mental Health and Wellbeing of Pasifika Young People

As a result of our #collaborACTION with the University of Auckland’s Adolescent Health Research Group over the past years, Le Va has produced a new infographic video outlining a snapshot of cultural, mental health and addiction issues for our Pasifika young people.

The video is based on the Youth2000 Survey Series – New Zealand’s nationally representative dataset for our Pacific youth population. We can now track trends and investigate new issues comparing this 2012 survey with 2001 and 2007 results.

Pacific young people are making great progress in many areas. Results show clear evidence of improved family and school relationships, significant reductions in substance use and improved educational aspirations. With these improvements we can’t be complacent – we need to learn from successes, continue investment so that we don’t see a reverse trend, and accumulatively build on the gains with momentum.

There are still persisting areas of concern that emphasise fundamental inequalities and disparities for our Pacific families living in New Zealand. Pacific youth do much worse than Palagi youth in most areas of wellbeing.  We can all play a role in utilising this information to address these concerns with urgency. The increasing number of young Pacific people identifying with more than one ethnicity will also bring client-centred and youth-centred culturally competent approaches to service delivery to the fore.

View the video, like, and feel free to share!

You can also read a blog from Flora Apulu, a Pasifika youth leader who has given her opinion on the Youth 2012 results for Pasifika.