INTRODUCTION: A number of studies have identified that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (GLBTI) people have poorer mental health than the general population. This article describes current mental health promotion and service provision for GLBTI people in New Zealand, and the views of stakeholders on current service delivery and concerns facing the sector. METHODS: An email survey of service providers gathered descriptive data about mental health promotion and services provided for GLBTI people. Data obtained from interviews with key informants and online submissions completed by GLBTI individuals were analysed thematically. FINDINGS: Five organisations provide clear, specific and utilised services and programmes to some or all of the GLBTI populations. Twelve GLBTI-focused mental health promotion resources are identified. The analysis of data from key informants and GLBTI respondents identified factors affecting mental health for these populations occurring at three levelsmacro-social environment, social acceptance and connection, and services and support. CONCLUSION: While GLBTI individuals have the same basic mental health promotion and service provision needs as members of the general population, they have additional unique issues. To enhance the mental health of GLBTI New Zealanders, a number of actions are recommended, including building sector capacity, allocating sufficient funding, ensuring adequate research and information is available, and reducing stigma, enhancing young peoples safety, and supporting practitioners through training and resources. An important role for government, alongside GLBTI input, for improving mental health is noted. KEYWORDS: General practice; mental health; sexuality; social discrimination
Increasingly, staff members in community and public health programs and projects are required to undertake evaluation activities. There is, however, limited capacity for, and understanding of, evaluation within this workforce. Building the capability of individual workers and thereby contributing to the overall capacity among the community and public health workforce has been advocated as one solution. In this article, the Easy Evaluation initiative, which seeks to increase the evaluation capability of individual workers and the capacity of the community and public health workforce in New Zealand, is discussed. The theoretical foundations of the evaluation approach (theory-driven evaluation) taught and of the teaching philosophy (adult learning and experiential learning) used are described, along with course content, teaching activities, and participant activities. Although our observations and experiences are that the workshop model is successful in increasing knowledge and skills of participants (building capability), additional support is required for organizations to build evaluation capacity.
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