Equitable Access to Wellbeing

People with learning disabilities and/or autistic individuals are much more likely to experience mental distress than the general population. However, this is not reflected in the way related assessments, funding, supports, training, and services are provided in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Inevitably, disabled people experiencing mental health and addiction-related needs have been caught between disability and mental health sectors, often resulting in them falling through the gaps and losing out both ways.

Unfortunately funding from Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People came to an end in December 2024 which meant Te Pou is unable to continue leading the Equitable Access to Wellbeing project. To ensure the mahi continues towards creating better opportunities and outcomes for disabled people experiencing mental distress, Equitable Access to Wellbeing has been gifted to a new home, People First.

The key resource that has been developed is the Equitable Access to Wellbeing framework.

The Equitable Access to Wellbeing framework is a knowledge and skills framework for mental health, addiction, and disability workforces working in primary, secondary, and tertiary contexts.

The framework was released on 19 October 2022 and is available in several different formats that ensure that it is accessible to all.

• A printed hard copy
• A PDF to be used on a computer
• Easy Read - broken into three documents:
  • Equitable Access to Wellbeing Part 1 - What is the framework
  • Equitable Access to Wellbeing Part 2 - Lived experience perspective
  • Equitable Access to Wellbeing Part 3 - Workforce perspective
• A Word document to ensure the framework can be read through a screen reader

You can also watch key recordings from the framework launch event.