Mental health: Rural communities need more targeted support, advocates say

The Government is asking for feedback on a suicide prevention plan for the next five years. Photo / RNZ / Richard Tindiller

By Monique Steele of RNZ

Warning: This article mentions suicide and may be distressing for some readers.

Mental health and wellbeing advocates want the Government to address health inequities people living in rural communities face, in efforts to improve outcomes for those living outside New Zealand’s main centres.

The Government is asking for feedback on a suicide prevention plan for the next five years.

The Manatū Hauora/Ministry of Health plan proposed establishing a community fund focused on populations with higher needs - including rural and maternal communities.

But Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network chairwoman and rural GP Dr Fiona Bolden said the plan was too narrow and did not address the diverse needs of people living in remote areas.

“I think the whole of rural feels quite invisible actually, particularly in the mental health field,” Bolden said.

“And we have these really amazing people working for the Rural Support Trust and Farmstrong and the iwi services, but no acknowledgement really of anything that they do within anything that’s written here or how we could build upon that.”

The consultation document said suicide rates were about 40% higher for males and 20% for females living in rural areas when compared to those living in urban areas.

It recognised suicide rates were “persistent and inequitable”, and though they had decreased in recent years, many population groups still experienced “inequitably high suicide rates”.

The chief coroner released the annual provisional suspected suicide statistics this week which showed 617 people died by suspected suicide in the year to the end of June.

This current rate of 11.2 people per 100,000 people was higher for Māori at 16.3 per 100,000 and even higher for the age group of 25-44 age group, when compared to Pākehā.

Bolden said with many Māori people living in rural areas too, there should be greater targeting of resources.

“With the incidents being so much higher in rural than in urban areas, we would think that they needed to have a specific targeted strategy or at least an implementation plan around this,” she said.

Bolden said a recent survey of New Zealand’s rural clinics showed they faced a shortage of at least 130 GPs - and understaffing had led to fewer after-hours care services and new patients being turned away.

Nicky Stanley-Clarke of Massey University’s School of Social Work said young farmers faced a double whammy of risk factors - those being youth and geographically isolated.

“What we’ve noticed is that there really are some gaps for young people who aren’t engaged with organisations, so young farm workers, in particular, are especially vulnerable, and also people like shepherds or young people who are out on high country farms,” she said.

“What we’ve learnt from talking with young people is that connection is really important, but also that people genuinely [caring] about them is also really important.”

Submissions on the Ministry of Health’s suicide prevention plan close on November 1, which will coincide with Gumboot Friday this year.

- RNZ