The Development of Community Mental Health Services in New Zealand.

This paper documents the development of community mental health (CMH) in New Zealand and makes comparisons with the United States. It is argued that the present New Zealand situation bears some similarity to that existing in the United States during the 1960's. The ideology of 'community mental health' is gaining popularity among professional and lay mental health workers in New Zealand and some hospital boards have, in the past five years, established community-based programs. In contrast to developments in the United States during the 1960's, the translation of CMH concepts into practice has taken place against a background of fiscal stringency and the documented experience of other countries. Examples of the major hospital board CMH projects in New Zealand are given. In contrast to North American CMH centers, New Zealand initiatives provide a narrower range of services, directed toward augmenting and co-ordinating with existing hospital board and primary health care services rather than supplanting them. A feature of the New Zealand situation has been the rapid growth in CMH activities outside of the formal mental health system. Organizations in the voluntary and non-statutory sector have also provided a strong lobby for the provision of more accessible, community-based hospital board services. Ideological, social, financial, and political factors both threatening and facilitating future professional commitment to the CMH field in New Zealand are identified and discussed. (Author/BL)