The Early History of the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists and the Related Movement for Primary Prevention in Mental Health: Some Recollections

1996 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S. Cook

Following his return to New Zealand from London in 1940, Dr C. M. Bevan-Brown gave lectures leading to the formation of the Mental Health Club. In 1946 this became the Christchurch Psychological Society. The New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists was formed at a conference in 1947 and held annual conferences for many years. In 1948 and 1949 training courses for doctors and medical students were conducted. To combat widespread ignorance, a series of pamphlets on various aspects of emotional health was published, and in 1950 a book on psychotherapy and primary prevention. These inspired the formation of Parents' Centres from 1951, which, as branches increased, led to the New Zealand Federation of Parents' Centres. They later gained official medical recognition and played an historic role in transforming some aspects of New Zealand culture and guiding institutions towards greater sensitivity to the emotional and mental health aspects of pregnancy, childbirth and early parent-child relationships. The influence of this movement continues.

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
F S Foo ◽  
M Lee ◽  
A J Kerr

Abstract Introduction The ANZACS-QI DEVICE registry is a national registry designed to collect data on all cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) implanted in New Zealand (NZ). This study aims to provide a contemporary analysis of the clinical characteristics and implant details of patients receiving implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT), including CRT-Pacemaker (CRT-P) and CRT-Defibrillator (CRT-D). Methods Complete datasets of ICD, CRT-D and CRT-P implants from the ANZACS-QI DEVICE registry from 1st January 2014 to 31st December 2017 were analysed.  Results A total of 1579 ICD implants were identified. Of the 1152 (73.0%) new implants, 565 (49.0%) were for primary prevention and 587 (51.0%) were for secondary prevention. The baseline demographics of both groups were similar, with a median age of 62 and predominantly male (79.2-81.4%), with European (63.7-66.8%) and Maori (21.1-24.8%) being the most common ethnicities. The mean BMI was 29.6-30.2 kg/m², with most patients (75.2-80.7%) being in sinus rhythm at the time of ICD implant. Compared to the secondary prevention group, the primary prevention group had more patients with a history of heart failure (80.4% vs 39.7%), worse heart failure symptoms (NYHA Class II-III 77.1% vs 47.3%), poorer left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (mean 25.1% vs 30.3%) and the aetiology was more likely to be non-ischaemic (57.5% vs 44.2%). The mean QRS duration was longer (129.9ms vs 113.4ms), with a higher incidence of left bundle branch block (31.9% vs 16.0%) and a correspondingly higher rate of CRT-D implants (27.4% vs 8.3%).  In the 427 (27.0%) ICD replacements, over a mean duration of 6.27 years, 46.6% had delivered appropriate therapy (including 38.4% with appropriate ICD shocks) whilst 17.8% had delivered inappropriate therapy. Compared to primary prevention CRT-D (n = 155), patients receiving CRT-P (n = 175) were older (median age 74 vs 66) and more likely to be female (38.3% vs 19.4%). CRT-D patients had longer mean QRS duration (169.2ms vs 160.8ms) and poorer LVEF (mean 24.3% vs 28.7%). Conclusion This analysis provides contemporary data on ICD and CRT use in New Zealand. Primary prevention ICD patients were more likely to have a history of heart failure, worse heart failure symptoms, more prolonged QRS duration, left bundle branch block and poorer LV function compared to secondary prevention ICD. Compared to primary prevention CRT-D, patients receiving CRT-P were older and more likely to be female.


Antichthon ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 60-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.H.R. Horsley

A generation ago K.V. Sinclair published what is still the standard guide to medieval manuscripts held in Australia. The title defines the scope: Descriptive Catalogue of the Medieval Western Manuscripts in Australian Collections. The parameters are further delimited by date: included are MSS of the Xlth-XVIth centuries. Brim full with technical information, and perhaps as a result rather austere in presentation, this book is a testimony to Sinclair's perseverance: the completed manuscript was lost at the end of the 1950s, and he started again. One consequence of this setback is that the addenda to the main catalogue update a work that was largely finished over thirty years ago; yet even these additions were not able to take account of some items which came to Australia at the end of the 1950s.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimity A. Crisp ◽  
Kathleen M. Griffiths

Internet-based interventions are increasingly recognized as effective in the treatment and prevention of mental disorders. However, little research has investigated who is most likely to participate in intervention trials. This study examined the characteristics of individuals interested in participating in an online intervention to improve emotional well-being and prevent or reduce the symptoms of depression, factors reported to encourage or discourage participation, and preferences for different intervention types. The study comprised 4761 Australians participating in a survey on emotional health. Comparisons are made between those who expressed an interest in participating in the trial and those who were not. Compared to those who declined to participate, interested participants were more likely older, females, separated/divorced, and highly educated, have reported current or past history of depression, report higher depressive symptoms, and have low personal stigma. Despite the flexibility of online interventions, finding time to participate was the major barrier to engagement. Financial compensation was the most commonly suggested strategy for encouraging participation. An increased understanding of factors associated with nonparticipation may inform the design of future e-mental health intervention trials. Importantly, consideration needs to be given to the competing time pressures of potential participants, in balance with the desired study design.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rebecca McLaughlan

<p>Thousands of New Zealanders were treated in the nation’s mental hospitals in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Existing research has examined this history of institutionalisation from the perspectives of policy, psychiatric medicine and nursing culture, but to date little has been written about the built fabric of this type of institutional care. This dissertation asks what does the architectural approach taken to Seacliff Asylum (1878-84), Kingseat Hospital (1927-40) and Cherry Farm Hospital (1943-71) indicate about official attitudes to mental illness in New Zealand. Architecture was thought to be capable of performing a curative role in the treatment of mental illness; the administrators of New Zealand’s mental hospitals stated this belief publically in various press releases and reports to the government between 1878 and 1957. This dissertation examines Seacliff, Kingseat and Cherry Farm against current thought regarding the treatment of mental illness and against best architectural practice in mental hospital design.   While these three institutions were the jewels in the crown of New Zealand’s mental hospital network, only Kingseat could be considered an exemplary hospital of its time. The compromises that occurred in the construction of Seacliff, Kingseat and Cherry Farm hospitals indicate that meeting the needs of the mentally ill was only one of a number of agendas that were addressed by the officials involved in the design of these institutions. Many of these agendas were peripheral to the delivery of mental health care, such as the political desire for colonial propaganda and professional concerns of marginalisation, and conflicted with the attainment of ideal environments for the treatment of mental illness. The needs of the mentally ill were a low priority for successive New Zealand governments who exhibited a reluctance to spend taxpayer funds on patients who were not considered curable. The architects and medical advisors involved in the design of these facilities did attempt to meet the needs of these patients; however, they were limited by a design and procurement process that elevated political and operational concerns over the curative potential of these hospitals.   This dissertation also examines the role of individuals in the design of these institutions. Architect Robert Lawson was reproached for deficiencies in the curative potential of Seacliff Asylum. Similarly, medical administrator Theodore Gray has received criticism for limiting the development of New Zealand’s wider network of mental hospital care. This dissertation establishes that Lawson and Gray deserve greater recognition for their relative contributions to the architecture created, within New Zealand, for the treatment of mental illness.</p>


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Soosay ◽  
Rob Kydd

New Zealand has an established history of mental health legislation that sits within a framework of human rights, disability and constitutional protections. We outline a brief history of mental health legislation in New Zealand since its inception as a modern state in 1840. The current legislation, the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992, defines mental disorder and the threshold for compulsory treatment. We describe its use in clinical practice and the wider legal and constitutional context which psychiatrists need to be aware of in their relationships with patients.


2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 207
Author(s):  
Peter McKenzie

This article builds on the contribution George Barton made on the life of Sir William Martin, New Zealand's first Chief Justice, in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. That entry indicates the keen interest George Barton had in the culture of the law including the history of the legal profession.  This article seeks to show that New Zealand's first Chief Justice was a figure of major significance in New Zealand's early history, not only because of the way he pioneered the establishment of the superior courts in New Zealand and sought to adapt English procedures to the needs of the new colony, but more significantly in the way he used his legal and linguistic skills to encourage Māori towards a society based on the rule of law, and used those skills to provide New Zealand's early government with an understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi.  His forceful and eloquent arguments on the rights confirmed to Māori under the Treaty, although unpopular and resented by many at the time, have become a powerful resource for Treaty historians today, and deserve greater attention  by New Zealand's professional historians.


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