Rainbow Youth is welcoming further research pointing out the gaps in New Zealand’s mental health services when it comes to glbti people, and urging consultation between the sector and community groups. Released by Massey University, the new report says mental health services need to be beefed up to be more accessible and friendlier towards glbti people. It acknowledges that some gay community organisations do work in this field and "several appear to be well-utilised" but it says mainstream services should be able to provide specifically "glbti-focussed services" and also "general services that are inclusive of and acceptable to glbti people." After reviewing available data and interviewing numerous glbti mental health stakeholders including gay community organisations already active in this field, the report's authors conclude that "there is very limited leadership evident with respect to mental health issues for glbti people. In addition, no glbti organisation appears suitably positioned to take a national leadership role." Rainbow Youth Executive Director Tom Hamilton says it’s beneficial to have a government approved research body discover the gap in support for our communities’ access to mental health services. “It is essential that further and robust consultation with the stated stakeholders from our communities be sought in solving these issues,” he says. “It would be disappointing to have projects that failed to actively engage our community organisations. “The work and engagement of organisations like Rainbow Youth and OUTLine, as well as GLBT groups nationally, is often not recognised and yet our consultations can be the key to many GLBT mental health consumers sense of understanding in the process of recovery. “It is essential that mental health services take responsibility to recognise that training to develop cultural competency to deal with our Takatāpui, Queer, Intersex, MVPFAFF and Trans communities is required.” The Massey report follows findings from the ‘Let’s talk about Sex’ report OUTLine launched in February, which said training clinicians to simply ask about the gender and sexuality of their clients would be a great start in improving the quality of care. It urged providers to train their staff in dealing with glbti people.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 28th June 2012 - 2:27pm