We need innovators in the room
Last week we attended the ‘Transforming Mental Health Conference’ in Wellington. Despite an overcrowded room, key people were missing. Where were the Ministry of Health representatives? Where were representatives from education, social development and other key determinant sectors? Where were the entrepreneurs?
How can we expect to transform our mental health outcomes if we’re keeping the doors closed to new voices?
Left out, priced out, tuned out
The night before we brought together a group of innovators to connect with one another and to discuss how we can better support them. We asked them why they weren’t going to be at the conference the next day.
- Few, if any, of them knew about the conference. They weren’t invited.
- It was too expensive. At $1000–1700 per ticket, this was completely out of range for most startups and public servants, and no options were provided to take this into account.
- They didn’t see the value. Predicting that the conference would be a repeat of years gone by, focused solely on publicly funded mental health services, and mostly filled with keynotes leaving little space for networking or discussion.
As a result, we had a gaping hole in the conversation. The public health system cannot serve all New Zealanders who need support every year, and yet the entrepreneurs and cross-sector innovators who could grow to fill this gap weren’t there. Neither were startups given the opportunity to connect with key sector experts and leaders who might be able to support their growth.
Top ten takeouts
For the startups not in the room, here are our top ten takeaways from the two days:
i. We need you in the room. The ‘transformation’ conversation at the conference still felt like a lot of the same “it’s not working” statements, with little suggestion or examples of true transformation. Your fresh approaches are essential if we are to respond to the issues in hand.
ii. We need new approaches to balance risk with innovation. The mental health sector is naturally risk averse to protect the people their serving, but innovation requires taking risks. We need to find new ways to balance these risks, because we know doing nothing is also risky. Startups have an opportunity to lead the way on this.
iii. We need to rethink the system. Calls were made throughout both days to change the system, yet it felt like a level of inertia and trepidation awaiting to see how the health reforms play out. A strong call was put out to a new system with transparent values aligned with Te Tiriti. We also believe (although we didn’t hear it at the conference) that any new ‘system’ needs to recognise players in the private markets too.
iv. Inequities are front of mind. This focus won’t surprise anyone familiar with Aotearoa’s mental health statistics, and it was good to see there is a clear focus on this. As a startup, consider how your offerings are helping to reduce inequities.
v. Consider whose evidence you’re gathering. Often the impact evidence gathered doesn’t fully reflect the target market (e.g. measured against Pākeha communities, then delivered to Māori), and so may not be true of the impact delivered. Keep this in mind as you measure the impact of your offerings.
vi. Aftercare is critical in co-design. At any stage of co-design, especially with lived experience communities, we need to take extra care that approaches are not putting participants at risk. Consider how you might wrap support around any community you’re co-designing with, not just during, but also after the process.
vii. We need to share insights, especially from lived experience. Often insights and feedback obtained through co-design or surveys are not shared, and instead duplicated. This overburdens lived experience and other communities and reduces goodwill, who have been treated poorly historically — we need to avoid this by using existing research and safely sharing insights.
viii. Collaboration is hard with existing power imbalances. A valid point but little was offered in a way to disrupt this other than wishing the DHB funding process would change. We recognise similar constraints exist in the startup ecosystem, but consider how collaboration can lead to much greater impact for your target audiences.
ix. Intergenerational perspectives. Particularly in Maori and Pacific communities, intergenerational perspectives can vary significantly. How might your work help to bridge differences, or create opportunities for intergenerational learning and impact?
x. We need more than psychological services. A common theme across the two days, from peer support leaders, Māori leaders, to forensic psychologists. Not new, but it was a clear call for a deep portfolio of innovative offerings for people in Aotearoa to choose from. We need startups to contribute to this portfolio, especially those built by communities they intend to serve.
We know it’s not as good as being in the room, but we hope these takeaways are helpful.
Let us know what you think in the comments below or reach out to discuss how we can support your startup journey to catalyse greater mental wellbeing in our communities.
