Скачать или смотреть ‘HIPsters’ are revolutionising mental health services. Healthcare Otago CT Scholar, Bianca Crichton

Filling the Gap: How ‘HIPsters’ are revolutionising mental health services.

Health Improvement Practitioners (HIPs) are part of a new wellbeing program dubbed ‘Access and Choice’ that provides brief interventions for people in mental distress. However, implementing this program in smaller practices has shown extra challenges related to space, staff availability, and access to services.

New Zealand is currently facing a mental health epidemic, with at least one in five Kiwis experiencing some form of mental distress every year. A lack of preventative services means that many people put on long waitlists before they can access support, or may not be considered ‘serious enough’ to qualify for this support at all. This gap in services for people with mild and moderate mental health issues has caused many people to slip between the cracks.

The Access and Choice program is a way to fill this gap. Central to this service are the HIPs, who offer same day appointments to help patients take positive steps towards their wellbeing. A revolutionary part of this service is a ‘warm handover’ involving an immediate face-to-face introduction of the HIP to the patient by their GP or nurse. This helps to engages the patient with the service and offers them support at their time of need.

Many small practices do not have the space, resources, or patient numbers to have a HIP at their practice full time. The question then arises, how does the program work when a HIP is shared between different practices? This research aims to answer these questions and map out the different ways small practices have adapted to these challenges, helping make the service work best for all New Zealanders.
Healthcare Otago Charitable Trust Scholar