A new report from the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says the health of New Zealanders is declining.
It showed working age people reporting excellent health almost halved between 2011 and 2024, while psychological distress had increased among all adults.
The report called on the government to address and reverse the decline by investing in housing, poverty reduction, education, improved nutrition and physical activity, as well as a stronger commitment to addressing the impact of tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food.
Hutt Hospital ED Specialist Dr Tanya Wilton told Kerre Woodham she sees people who have struggled to obtain adequate income, housing, and security, and it’s harder to eat and stay healthy when you don’t have the money to do so.
She says you can’t get away from those social determinants of health in terms of those key areas.
Tauranga-based Psychologist Mark Lawrence told Woodham that when it comes to psychological distress, the biggest challenge is a lack of extensive long-term investment to addressing societal stressors.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the carry Wood and Morning's podcast from
News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be as we have been discussing. A new report
from the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says the health
of New New Zealanders is declining. The report is called
on the government to address and reverse the decline by
investing in a number of aspects housing, poverty reduction, education,
improve nutrition and physical activity. Doctor Tania Wilton is an
(00:35):
ED specialist at HU Hut Hospital. She joins me, now,
very good morning to.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
You, Good morning to you, Carrie.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
How many people present to you that if they followed
what they knew, would not be there.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
I think, going back to the report that I find
it really interesting to get the numbers around that because
it gives credibility I guess to what many coinictionis and
different specialties are experiencing, which is increased demand for health
care and increased complexity of illness. And you know, I
(01:16):
don't think anybody wants to be unwell. There's significant intact
on people's lives when they're not in good health, you know,
both in terms of the ability to work. And the
report did illustrate that people in the working age groups
(01:37):
between fifteen and sixty were really more impacted than those
that were older. In that's really often then, because these
are the active people in our community that are working
providing services to us or and also a lot of
non unpaid work. I guess that those people do looking
(01:59):
after children and looking after elderly relatives as well, So that'sficant.
And in terms of you know, lifestyle factors, look, I
think from my point of view, I see people that
have really struggles to have an adequate income and have
(02:21):
housing and security, and it's really hard to you know,
eat and costs healthily if you don't have a you know,
a decent stable home and you don't have money to
be able to buy healthy fresh fruit or go to
the gym or you know that stuff. So I think
(02:42):
it's very intertwined. And yeah, unfortunately we just can't get
away from those social determinants of health in terms of
adequacy of income, secure housing, and insecure food and healthy food.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Perhaps I could possibly take the housing, but we've never
had more education from from people who are peer to peer.
You know, it's not authorities telling you what to do.
You've got peer to peer contact with social media accounts
where it is people who have walked that walk who
are telling you how to change, and they are the same.
(03:23):
They have no money, they limited money. They're not joining
fancy schmancy gyms. They have limited money to spend on
groceries and show you what to do with the bare minimum.
I would have thought there's never been more access to
knowledge about how to be better.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Sure, and I you know, I agree that there is
a lot of knowledge around, but actually translating that knowledge
into what you can do. I think there's pretty good
evidence that education pays a part, but there's other systemic
factors that actually influence people's behavior more than just education.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Well, right, so absolutely housing the improved nutrition when again,
even with limited funds, if you choose to, you can
make good choices about food for yourself and your children.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Sure, yes, people can, and I think people do try
and do their best, but often, you know, I'm sure
we've all walked through areas that are more economically deprived
than others, and they are not the places that have
the fresh fruit and veggiet shops. They're not the places
(04:44):
that have there's a description of various regions been called
basically food deserts because it just isn't access to not
easy access to healthy, healthy food. You know, the easy
option is to send your kid to the dairy to
(05:05):
pick up a school It costs, you know, it's cheap,
and it's not really nutritus. I mean, I think there's
some great work going on in some individual areas where
people will have made a huge commitment to provide healthy
school lunches and things like that. So I think those
are the positive things. And you know, I belong to
(05:25):
a fruit and vegetable co op which tries to provide
free fruit and vents at a reasonable price. But you know,
actually for a lot of people, those things are difficult
to access.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
And I get that. And I know what you mean
about the fact that you know, you're exhausted from working
at a low paid job for many hours. You come home,
the thought of preparing a meal, you know, it's beyond
you because you're at the end of your tether. There's
nothing around you. Is that is a healthy takeaway option,
(06:00):
But then that takes away too from people's ability to
determine for themselves how it's going to be. When I've
talked about this before and been empathetic, I've had people
who come on and say, don't patronize me. You know,
I work a really long shift for very little. I've
got three or four kids. I batch cook in the
(06:22):
weekends because I refuse to be in those stats.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Yeah, and absolutely there are people working incredibly hard to
do the best they can with what they have, and
I don't disagree with that for one minute. And I
think it is incredible how people do manage. Ye, my
family tried. We tried to do one time before Christmas.
We tried to live off the living wage, which you
(06:49):
think actually is not minimum wage, and we managed to
do that for two weeks and then we donated the
rest of the food thing. But by goodness, it was
hard and to try and do that week after week
after week. I mean, for us, we knew it was
a limited period of time time and that you know,
we'd be able to have a more relaxed time, but
(07:09):
it's incredibly We found it incredibly hard. And when I've
talked to people at budgeting services as well, you know,
they say, God, it's almost impossible to do. So absolutely
they're are some stealing people doing great, great work and
you know, making really good choices, the best choices that
(07:29):
they can for their families. But it's not easy. You know,
I come from a relative a position of relative privilege
where I can just go, okay, work hard this way
can I don't have any effort to cot something healthy
for my kids, but I can, you know, try and
do the get access to better healthy takeaways.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
So yeah, what's the solution? Then just give more people
more money.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
So I don't think it's necessarily all about just giving
people money. Is that it's about people having meaning full,
well paid work. It's about people having secure housing and
you know, they can then invest in cooking implements and
things like that, and they know where the local shops
(08:20):
are and things like that. We have, you know a
lot of people that are in insecure housing and the
double whereme of that with a low income. It's pretty tricky.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
I thank you very much for your time, Doctor Tannia
Wilton Hot Hospital ed specialist, Doctor Mark Lawrence is a
total of based psychiatrists and one of the features in
the report from their Association of Claried Medical Specialists is
the increase in psychological distress, which has increased among all adults.
(08:52):
Very good morning to you, good morning whatever. When it
comes to the rise in distress, how much of that
comes down to choosing to focus on the positive. Like,
we can all have that voice in our heads that
is fearful, that tells us we're useless. If you listen
(09:15):
to that and allow that to gain traction, it's much
harder to come back from. How much of what we're
doing is allowing that voice to take over.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Yeah, well, I'm not a mind reader, so I can't
read people's intentions, but I know that people will have
different ways of dealing with the truest I think it's
bigger than that because individual we'll cope with their psychological
difficulties in a different way. But if you're in a
supportive environment and you have access to services early, no
(09:49):
matter how negative your internal voice will be, you will
still have their capacity to you know, still recover from
your so But I think the biggest challenge that observed
over the many years that I've worked, particularly in into
health in various roles, is the really no no government
(10:11):
has worked at a really long term investment and commitment
to addressing some of the determinants of those stresses that
impact on our population.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
But the previous government spent a billion dollars and a
lot of that went into that primary psychological healthcare so
that GPS could refer somebody before it got too bad.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Yeah. Yeah, And the practical implication that happened there was
people got seen and were challenging and then sent them
to secondary care and then then secondary here where there
was not enough investment in that space. Then we're then
taking the load because of you know, and it's not
been disrepeatable to GPS the challenging space and managing risks
(11:00):
when people were put challenging symptoms. So I think a
lot of that needed to be not just in the
primary care space, but also in the primary and secondary
care interface. That's where there was a there was no
real investment in the secondary level care or what I
would see in my practice.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
The thing I'm finding difficult is like a billion dollars
was spent and nothing's happened, nothing's changed, everything's getting worse.
So it's not money. We don't need more money thrown
at the problem. And what about self determining your own
happiness and thinking, Okay, if the government is not going
to help me because it can't afford to, maybe I'm
(11:45):
worth more and I need to help myself.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
But it but also comes from protective eve one you
know has has had it has the same capacity to
to manage situations and industries. It doesn't take into consideration
the pressures that that that we have at the moment,
particularly the social atterments of health, polity, poor housing. And
then if you look at the group that's actually really
(12:09):
striking the most unfortunate, that useful population between fifteen and
twenty four, and it's right across the spectrum, and that
is a concern. I think the main issue we have
to focus on short term investment into a long term problem.
(12:30):
No matter how much money you put it this, you
have to be thinking strategically over a long term. One.
Short term investment is not going to change anything.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
I thank you very much for your time, Doctor make
Lawrence Tartung, a based psychiatrist.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
For more from carry Wood in Mornings, listen live to
news talks that'd be from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the carry Wood and Morning's podcast from
News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be as we have been discussing. A new report
from the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says the health
of New New Zealanders is declining. The report is called
on the government to address and reverse the decline by
investing in a number of aspects housing, poverty reduction, education,
improve nutrition and physical activity. Doctor Tania Wilton is an
(00:35):
ED specialist at HU Hut Hospital. She joins me, now,
very good morning to.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
You, Good morning to you, Carrie.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
How many people present to you that if they followed
what they knew, would not be there.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
I think, going back to the report that I find
it really interesting to get the numbers around that because
it gives credibility I guess to what many coinictionis and
different specialties are experiencing, which is increased demand for health
care and increased complexity of illness. And you know, I
(01:16):
don't think anybody wants to be unwell. There's significant intact
on people's lives when they're not in good health, you know,
both in terms of the ability to work. And the
report did illustrate that people in the working age groups
(01:37):
between fifteen and sixty were really more impacted than those
that were older. In that's really often then, because these
are the active people in our community that are working
providing services to us or and also a lot of
non unpaid work. I guess that those people do looking
(01:59):
after children and looking after elderly relatives as well, So that'sficant.
And in terms of you know, lifestyle factors, look, I
think from my point of view, I see people that
have really struggles to have an adequate income and have
(02:21):
housing and security, and it's really hard to you know,
eat and costs healthily if you don't have a you know,
a decent stable home and you don't have money to
be able to buy healthy fresh fruit or go to
the gym or you know that stuff. So I think
(02:42):
it's very intertwined. And yeah, unfortunately we just can't get
away from those social determinants of health in terms of
adequacy of income, secure housing, and insecure food and healthy food.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Perhaps I could possibly take the housing, but we've never
had more education from from people who are peer to peer.
You know, it's not authorities telling you what to do.
You've got peer to peer contact with social media accounts
where it is people who have walked that walk who
are telling you how to change, and they are the same.
(03:23):
They have no money, they limited money. They're not joining
fancy schmancy gyms. They have limited money to spend on
groceries and show you what to do with the bare minimum.
I would have thought there's never been more access to
knowledge about how to be better.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Sure, and I you know, I agree that there is
a lot of knowledge around, but actually translating that knowledge
into what you can do. I think there's pretty good
evidence that education pays a part, but there's other systemic
factors that actually influence people's behavior more than just education.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Well, right, so absolutely housing the improved nutrition when again,
even with limited funds, if you choose to, you can
make good choices about food for yourself and your children.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Sure, yes, people can, and I think people do try
and do their best, but often, you know, I'm sure
we've all walked through areas that are more economically deprived
than others, and they are not the places that have
the fresh fruit and veggiet shops. They're not the places
(04:44):
that have there's a description of various regions been called
basically food deserts because it just isn't access to not
easy access to healthy, healthy food. You know, the easy
option is to send your kid to the dairy to
(05:05):
pick up a school It costs, you know, it's cheap,
and it's not really nutritus. I mean, I think there's
some great work going on in some individual areas where
people will have made a huge commitment to provide healthy
school lunches and things like that. So I think those
are the positive things. And you know, I belong to
(05:25):
a fruit and vegetable co op which tries to provide
free fruit and vents at a reasonable price. But you know,
actually for a lot of people, those things are difficult
to access.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
And I get that. And I know what you mean
about the fact that you know, you're exhausted from working
at a low paid job for many hours. You come home,
the thought of preparing a meal, you know, it's beyond
you because you're at the end of your tether. There's
nothing around you. Is that is a healthy takeaway option,
(06:00):
But then that takes away too from people's ability to
determine for themselves how it's going to be. When I've
talked about this before and been empathetic, I've had people
who come on and say, don't patronize me. You know,
I work a really long shift for very little. I've
got three or four kids. I batch cook in the
(06:22):
weekends because I refuse to be in those stats.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Yeah, and absolutely there are people working incredibly hard to
do the best they can with what they have, and
I don't disagree with that for one minute. And I
think it is incredible how people do manage. Ye, my
family tried. We tried to do one time before Christmas.
We tried to live off the living wage, which you
(06:49):
think actually is not minimum wage, and we managed to
do that for two weeks and then we donated the
rest of the food thing. But by goodness, it was
hard and to try and do that week after week
after week. I mean, for us, we knew it was
a limited period of time time and that you know,
we'd be able to have a more relaxed time, but
(07:09):
it's incredibly We found it incredibly hard. And when I've
talked to people at budgeting services as well, you know,
they say, God, it's almost impossible to do. So absolutely
they're are some stealing people doing great, great work and
you know, making really good choices, the best choices that
(07:29):
they can for their families. But it's not easy. You know,
I come from a relative a position of relative privilege
where I can just go, okay, work hard this way
can I don't have any effort to cot something healthy
for my kids, but I can, you know, try and
do the get access to better healthy takeaways.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
So yeah, what's the solution? Then just give more people
more money.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
So I don't think it's necessarily all about just giving
people money. Is that it's about people having meaning full,
well paid work. It's about people having secure housing and
you know, they can then invest in cooking implements and
things like that, and they know where the local shops
(08:20):
are and things like that. We have, you know a
lot of people that are in insecure housing and the
double whereme of that with a low income. It's pretty tricky.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
I thank you very much for your time, Doctor Tannia
Wilton Hot Hospital ed specialist, Doctor Mark Lawrence is a
total of based psychiatrists and one of the features in
the report from their Association of Claried Medical Specialists is
the increase in psychological distress, which has increased among all adults.
(08:52):
Very good morning to you, good morning whatever. When it
comes to the rise in distress, how much of that
comes down to choosing to focus on the positive. Like,
we can all have that voice in our heads that
is fearful, that tells us we're useless. If you listen
(09:15):
to that and allow that to gain traction, it's much
harder to come back from. How much of what we're
doing is allowing that voice to take over.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Yeah, well, I'm not a mind reader, so I can't
read people's intentions, but I know that people will have
different ways of dealing with the truest I think it's
bigger than that because individual we'll cope with their psychological
difficulties in a different way. But if you're in a
supportive environment and you have access to services early, no
(09:49):
matter how negative your internal voice will be, you will
still have their capacity to you know, still recover from
your so But I think the biggest challenge that observed
over the many years that I've worked, particularly in into
health in various roles, is the really no no government
(10:11):
has worked at a really long term investment and commitment
to addressing some of the determinants of those stresses that
impact on our population.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
But the previous government spent a billion dollars and a
lot of that went into that primary psychological healthcare so
that GPS could refer somebody before it got too bad.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Yeah. Yeah, And the practical implication that happened there was
people got seen and were challenging and then sent them
to secondary care and then then secondary here where there
was not enough investment in that space. Then we're then
taking the load because of you know, and it's not
been disrepeatable to GPS the challenging space and managing risks
(11:00):
when people were put challenging symptoms. So I think a
lot of that needed to be not just in the
primary care space, but also in the primary and secondary
care interface. That's where there was a there was no
real investment in the secondary level care or what I
would see in my practice.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
The thing I'm finding difficult is like a billion dollars
was spent and nothing's happened, nothing's changed, everything's getting worse.
So it's not money. We don't need more money thrown
at the problem. And what about self determining your own
happiness and thinking, Okay, if the government is not going
to help me because it can't afford to, maybe I'm
(11:45):
worth more and I need to help myself.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
But it but also comes from protective eve one you
know has has had it has the same capacity to
to manage situations and industries. It doesn't take into consideration
the pressures that that that we have at the moment,
particularly the social atterments of health, polity, poor housing. And
then if you look at the group that's actually really
(12:09):
striking the most unfortunate, that useful population between fifteen and
twenty four, and it's right across the spectrum, and that
is a concern. I think the main issue we have
to focus on short term investment into a long term problem.
(12:30):
No matter how much money you put it this, you
have to be thinking strategically over a long term. One.
Short term investment is not going to change anything.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
I thank you very much for your time, Doctor make
Lawrence Tartung, a based psychiatrist.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
For more from carry Wood in Mornings, listen live to
news talks that'd be from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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