Reducing health inequities regarding Aboriginal access to culturally safe and effective mental health and addictions services: A critical cultural approach to Harm Reduction

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Smye
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Harm Reduction ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Cultural Approach

Commentary on the harm reduction reference group of justice health and forensic mental health network and corrective services NSW, Australia

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Anne Silano ◽  
Carla Treloar ◽  
Thomas Wright ◽  
Tracey Brown ◽  
Colette McGrath ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Harm Reduction ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
New South ◽  
Forensic Mental Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Health Network ◽  
South Wales

Purpose This commentary aims to reveal how a steering committee has effectively responded to advancing accessibility to harm reduction resources, hepatitis C virus (HCV) policy and health strategies within adult prison settings in New South Wales (NSW). Design/methodology/approach By reviewing the audit approach taken by the of the Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network and Corrective Services New South Wales Harm Reduction Reference Group (JHFMHN/CSNSW HRRG), this commentary emphasizes the committee’s success in identifying contemporary harm reduction issues that affect people in custodial settings. This commentary is a compilation of data gathered through the 2018 JHFMHN/CSNSW HRRG audit and corresponding program materials. Conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the working group’s audit were drawn by critically appraising the JHFMHN/CSNSW HRRG’s Final Audit Report (JHFMHN and CSNSW, 2018) with reference to current harm reduction literature. Findings The HRRG has provided leadership, professional representation and strategic advice on the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of best practice harm reduction strategies in prison settings. The HRRG developed and maintained networks and information exchange between the state-wide HCV health network, corrections services and the NSW harm reduction sector at large. Public health partnerships and advocacy that involve all key players, such as the HRRG, will continue to be crucial to remove barriers to enhancing HCV harm reduction measures especially in NSW prison settings. Social implications Strategies such as primary prevention and treatment can mitigate the spread of HCV in the custodial system. This audit of access to harm reduction resources was conducted on behalf of the diverse group of professionals, scholars and stakeholders comprising the HRRG. This audit and other advocacy efforts of this committee can facilitate future access to quality healthcare and the necessary policies required to support a healthier prison population at large. Originality/value Collaborating with health authorities, researchers and social service workers can enable prison health-care systems to be guided by wider health workforce programs and public health standards. This collaboration can reduce the professional isolation of custodial health-care staff and promote a balanced approach to harm reduction policies by ensuring an equitable focus on both health and security imperatives.

‘Apps are cool but generally pretty pointless’: LGBTIQ+ young people’s mental health app ambivalence

2019 ◽  
Vol 171 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Byron
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Australian Study ◽  
Health Apps ◽  
Mental Health Information ◽  
Potential Development ◽  
Health Agenda

This article considers the potential development of mental health apps for LGBTIQ+ young people. It reports on data from an Australian study of LGBTIQ+ young people’s mental health help-seeking experiences. Participants (aged 16–25 years) highlighted the potential value of mental health apps, yet also questioned the need for another digital intervention. Addressing stigma around mental health was seen as a greater priority for many, as was addressing the inadequate mental health information and support available to LGBTIQ+ young people through schools and mainstream health services. Participants noted that a mental health app must not only be useful, reliable and accessible but also actively sought, which was sometimes unlikely. This article questions a contemporary public health agenda for developing digital solutions to complex social problems. Furthermore, it asks whether health inequities and social stigma can be addressed by apps that typically prioritise the practice of individualised self-care.

scholarly journals Mental Health Inequities among Transgender People in Aotearoa New Zealand: Findings from the Counting Ourselves Survey

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 2862
Author(s):  
Kyle K.H. Tan ◽  
Sonja J. Ellis ◽  
Johanna M. Schmidt ◽  
Jack L. Byrne ◽  
Jaimie F. Veale
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
General Population ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Trans Women ◽  
Distress Scale

There has been little international research looking at differences in mental health across different age groups. This study examines mental health inequities between transgender people and the Aotearoa/New Zealand general population from youth to older adulthood. The 2018 Counting Ourselves survey (N = 1178) assessed participants’ mental health using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) and diagnoses of depression and anxiety disorders, questions that were the same as those used in the New Zealand Health Survey. Our results showed significant mean score differences for transgender people on K10, and these differences were almost two standard deviations higher than the general population (Cohen’s d = 1.87). The effect size differences, however, decreased from youth to older adults. Regression analyses indicated trans women were less likely to report psychological distress than trans men and non-binary participants. There was an interaction effect for age and gender, with lower psychological distress scores found for younger trans women but higher scores for older trans women. The stark mental health inequities faced by transgender people, especially youth, demonstrate an urgent need to improve the mental health and wellbeing of this population by implementing inclusive institutional practices to protect them from gender minority stress.

Decriminalizing LGBTQ+: Reproducing and resisting mental health inequities

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 667-686
Author(s):  
Tyler M. Argüello
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Minority Stress ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Major Health ◽  
Queer People ◽  
Social Inequities ◽  
Two Spirit

Secure settings are not queer because lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, Two Spirit, and asexual (LGBTQ+) people populate them, and neither are LGBTQ+ people inherently criminal because they are found in those spaces. Queer people bear disproportionate health, mental health, and social inequities that have had, historically and currently, the effect to criminalize them. This review discusses effective language and ideologies when working with LGBTQ+ people in secure settings. Major health, mental health, and social inequities are reviewed, along with the applied framework of minority stress. Then, the process of criminalization is diagrammed across the phases of predetainment, being in the system, and through re-entering the community. Finally, multilevel strategies are offered to decriminalize LGBTQ+ people ideologically and in practice.

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