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Better Sooner More Convenient Primary Care - New Zealand Doctor

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Further professional development for core general practice teams will be required.<br />

Increase in the Māori workforce will be required to effectively deliver kaupapa Māori services.<br />

8 Effect on inequalities<br />

Māori and low socio-economic people are over represented in mental health clientele.<br />

The Māori mental health team will work alongside the primary and secondary mental health<br />

services to ensure that clients receive a culturally appropriate service.<br />

Locating mental health services in IFHCs will help reduce the stigma and marginalisation of<br />

those presenting with mental health problems, particularly those with addictions. It will also<br />

help them to access the physical care they need from their primary health care team.<br />

9 Evidence for this initiative<br />

Aspects of this plan follow the recently released guidance paper, Towards optimal primary<br />

mental health care in the new primary care environment 57 .<br />

Placement of mental health workers within primary care has been the subject of a significant<br />

body of research. A recent Cochrane review of 42 studies 58 concluded:<br />

“This review investigated whether having mental health workers on-site to work with physicians<br />

at their offices would change the care that physicians provide. Forty-two studies were reviewed<br />

in which on-site mental health workers, such as counsellors or psychiatrists, worked alongside<br />

physicians to provide therapy to patients. The review found that when there were mental health<br />

workers on-site, patients may reduce the number of visits to their doctors; doctors may reduce<br />

how often they refer patients to off-site mental health specialists; doctors may reduce the<br />

number of drugs they prescribe to the patients who see the mental health workers; and the<br />

costs related to those drugs may be lower. However, these reductions were small and not found<br />

consistently in all the studies.”<br />

57 Ministry of Health. Towards optimal primary mental health care in the new primary care environment. MoH,<br />

Wellington, 2009.<br />

58 Harkness EF, Bower PJ. On-site mental health workers delivering psychological therapy and psychosocial<br />

interventions to patients in primary care: effects on the professional practice of primary care providers. Cochrane<br />

Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD000532. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD000532.pub2.<br />

Business case appendices V12 AC 25Feb2010 Page 98

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