Dr. Rees Tapsell presented his keynote address– The Treatment and (Re)habilitation of Māori Mentally Abnormal Offenders— at the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services (IAFMHS) held in Montreal, Canada from June 25-27, 2019.
International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services (IAFMHS) Keynote Address
About Dr. Rees Tapsell
Dr Tapsell is of Māori, heralding from the Arawa canoe and of Ngāti Whakaue descent. He is the Executive Director of the Midland Regional Forensic Service and the Director of Clinical Services for the Waikato Mental Health and Addictions services at the Waikato District Health Board. He is a clinical lecturer with the department of psychological medicine at the Auckland School of Medicine. Dr Tapsell has served as a General Council member with the Australia and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, as a board member on two HHSs/DHBs, on several small private companies and he served as a psychiatrist Deputy Member on the Mental Health Review Tribunal for 12 years. He has been involved in the development of a number of Māori specific approaches to the provision of mental health care to Māori in both general and forensic services and in both government and NGO settings. Dr Tapsell’s particular professional and research interests lie in the governance and leadership of health organisations, the epidemiology of mental disorders, Maori mental health service development, outcome measures in Maori mental health ‘mentally abnormal’ offenders and undergraduate and postgraduate education and training.
