Voices report: accompanying report to Kua Tīmata Te Haerenga

The Voices report is an accompanying report to Kua Tīmata Te Haerenga | The Journey Has Begun (our 2024 mental health and addiction service monitoring report).  

This Voices report provides richness and depth to what we heard from tāngata whaiora, communities, and the mental health and addiction workforce across Aotearoa New Zealand about access to services and options available. 

In this report we give people the space to express their views. This includes comments on the urgency of system change which will ensure people get support where and when they need it.  There are important questions about why there is a disconnect between an increasing need for mental health and addiction support and a decrease in people accessing specialist services.

We continue to hear about barriers, such as long waiting lists, not knowing how or
where to get support, the stigma of asking for help, discrimination, or a lack of suitable options. We have also heard good stories, such as of people getting the support they needed, and the value of being active participants in their own care or with their whānau and family. This report captures this and more.

The hard-working mental health and addiction workforce needs to be acknowledged. Working in a field that faces workforce shortages and high vacancies and involves managing more complex issues is not easy. But we have heard about the incredible work going on and staff turning up each day to do their best to support others.

Hundreds of people shared their views and experiences. The thematic analysis and supporting quotes are included in this Voices report. We thank everyone who generously shared with us their experiences.