This brief review has been undertaken to support the Ministry of Health and Mental Health Commission in developing their Service Development Plan over 2011/12. The objectives of the review are to explore:
- a summary of evaluations of New Zealand examples of innovative services
- an appraisal of service delivery options that can be applied across the continuum of care.
The review includes evidence-based models of care that demonstrate good mental health or addiction outcomes, including outcomes for family/whānau. It's intended to prompt thought and discussion across the sector on issues and priorities in mental health and addictions service delivery, and in so doing, inform the Service Development Plan.
Methodology
Sources for the literature were identified through the following process:
- a scan of Ministry of Health databases and holdings for a broad list of potential sources
- a search of online databases
- supplementary material provided by people working in the New Zealand mental health sector, including commissioned evaluations by district health boards and nongovernment organisations (NGO). However, only limited material was obtained through these sources.
The focus of the review was initially on the New Zealand literature. However, in many areas, the scope of New Zealand evidence was very limited, and learnings from the overseas experience were also sought. A key challenge of this review was its substantial breadth, and the limited time available to undertake the review; with these constraints, exploring each issue in substantial depth was not possible. Instead, this review offers an overview of issues and implications for mental health and addictions service delivery, and traverses emerging research and issues across each of themes that were commissioned.
A lack of material in some areas reduced the scope of analysis that could be provided; this was particularly the case for respite care, clinical/non-clinical partnerships, and hub and spoke models of care.
A thematic analysis was undertaken of the sources by identifying and synthesising the key themes emerging. These were then summarised and reported within each of the topic areas covered by the review.