Engage Aotearoa

Engage Aotearoa Welcomes Two New Volunteers

November 8, 2013 12:06 pm ⋅

Engage Aotearoa is pleased to announce two new volunteers have joined the team to help make recovery resources easier for Kiwis to find.

Catherine Beyer  has joined the team of volunteers in the role of Directory Editor and Claire Sexton has joined the team in the role of Recovery Notes Content Writer.

As Directory Editor, Catherine is responsible for maintaining and expanding the Community Resources Directory.

Catherine has worked in health promotion for over 10 years, in the fields of allergy awareness and perinatal nutrition, and also as a healthy eating programme facilitator with the Salvation Army.  At university she studied biochemistry, nutrition and public health.  She has lived experience of recovery and is passionate about advocating for service-user rights, informed consent, and non-drug alternatives to dealing with mental distress.

As Recovery Notes Content Writer, Claire will be writing a regular series of blog articles that highlight information about alternative and complementary recovery approaches. Recovery Notes will be published in the Mental-Health News and Events Blog and archived in the Information Resources section of Engage Aotearoa’s Community Treasure Chest. Recovery Notes 1 focuses on Good Mood Food.

Claire Sexton is a freelance writer and full-time mom with experience of supporting people she cares about through the experience of depression. This gave Sexton an interest in mental health in general.  After graduating college, she put a lot of effort into her career as a nutritionist, but when motherhood came along, she decided it was time to pull back and take up her other passion, writing. Now she writes about health and finds her work-life balance far more enjoyable. When not working and caring for her children, she likes to go for long walks and find ways to make family meals more exciting.

Posted in: Engage Updates ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

Butterfly Diaries Launched: Order Online

October 20, 2013 11:00 pm ⋅

The Butterfly Diaries Volume 1 was launched on the 13th of October at Fiesta in the Park – a free book of four true stories of recovery from the experience of being suicidal.

Engage Aotearoa set up a tent and invited people to take a book, decorate a butterfly with a coping tip and leave it on the tent to share with others. Sixty free books were handed out on the day and The Butterfly Diaries tent finished up covered in colourful butterflies and heaps of helpful tips people wanted to share.

Online orders flew in thick and fast since the release was first announced and another 2 00 books were posted out to across the country in the days following the launch. Books have been sent to Kaitaia, Kohukohu, Kerikeri, Whangarei, all across Auckland, Hamilton, Raglan, Thames, Tauranga, Timaru, Wellington, Lower Hutt, Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill and a range of towns the team had never heard of before. Orders even came in from as far afield as Glasgow and The Netherlands in the first few days. There are now only 20 copies of the first print run left and the team at Engage Aotearoa are in the process of ordering more.

As soon as the books flew out into the world, the first comments started flying in…

“I’ve read my copy of the Butterfly Diaries and think it’s excellent – you must be really pleased with the end result, as I imagine the participants are. I’d be keen to get a box of them so we can take them with us when we present around the country.” 

Order Online

The Butterfly Diaries is free for individuals in the community. A small donation is requested to cover the cost of postage and handling ($2.50 p/bk). If you cannot donate, simply email Engage Aotearoa with your address and you’ll be sent a copy anyway. 

Organisations can order copies online by making a donation to cover the cost of printing and posting the copies ordered ($5 p/bk). This allows Engage Aotearoa to keep free copies available for individuals in the community who may not use services.

Share the poster with the people you know and help make recovery stories easy for Kiwis to find.

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Posted in: Engage Updates, Families/Whanau, Men, News, Parents and Parenting, Personal Development Tools, Recovery Stories, Service-User Movement, Social Change, Suicide Prevention/Support, Women, Young People and Youth Issues ⋅ Tagged: , , , ,

Highlights from the IIMHL Update

October 20, 2013 10:21 pm ⋅

Engage Aotearoa loves getting updates from the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership – it’s always full of really interesting and relevant links. Here are a few highlights from the September update.

A Manager’s Guide to Suicide Postvention in the Workplace: 10 action steps for dealing with the aftermath of suicide

 (2013). American Association of Suicidology (AAS) and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (Action Alliance), Crisis Care Network (CCN), and the Carson J Spencer Foundation.

Guidebook

The guide provides clear steps for postvention, giving leadership a sense of how to immediately respond to the traumatic event, have a plan in the short-term for recovery, and consider long-term strategies for helping employees cope down the line.

Addressing the Intimacy Interests of People with Mental Health Conditions: Acknowledging Consumer Desires, Provider Discomforts and System Denial

The Temple University Collaborative announces the availability of a new monograph focusing upon the intimacy concerns of individuals with mental health conditions.  Acknowledging that sexual intimacy is a lifelong priority for all men and women, the monograph reviews current mental health research on the topic, the issues raised by men and women with mental health conditions with regard to the barriers they face in developing satisfactory intimate lives, and the uneasiness of most community mental health practitioners in discussing intimacy and sexuality with the people they serve.  The monograph, which offers initial recommendations for the mental health community, seeks to initiate a national dialogue on these issues. You can view this document on the website, here:

http://tucollaborative.org/pdfs/Toolkits_Monographs_Guidebooks/relationships_family_friends_intimacy/intimacy.pdf

Podcast: Michael Kendrick PhD

Michael Kendrick is an international expert on personalised funding approaches for people living with mental illness. Michael has worked in the fields of mental health, disability and aged care for nearly 30 years. He has advised governments and community organisations in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Central America.

In this memorial lecture he talks about “a life lived well”.

http://www.mifellowship.org/news/15th-bruce-woodcock-memorial-lecture-podcast

2014 Leadership Exchange

The 2014 Leadership Exchange will be in England from 9-13 June.  Registration is now open via www.iimhl.com and a list of the available themes for the two day matches on the 9th and 10th of June is available for IIMHL members to select from. The venue is the United Events – Old Trafford, Manchester for the two day combined meeting  on the 12th and 13th June in Manchester.  A draft agenda will be available soon. Further information on the IIDL host sites and agenda will also be available in due course

Join IIMHL / IIDL

Any leader in mental health, addiction and disability services can join IIMHL or IIDL free by using this link: http://www1.iimhl.com/Join.asp

 

Posted in: Online Resources, People with Disabilities, Professional Development, Service-User Movement, Social Change ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Chatters Newsletter from Crossroads Clubhouse: Sep-Oct 2013

October 20, 2013 9:56 pm ⋅

The September-October issue of Crossroad Clubhouse’s newsletter, Chatters was released on the 7th of October.

Click here to open Chatters September-October Issue

Posted in: Recovery Stories ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

Victory Parade Raises Funds for Engage Aotearoa

October 20, 2013 9:25 pm ⋅

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People from across Northland came together to stage the Victory Fashion Parade and raise funds for Engage Aotearoa on Saturday the 28th of September at Toll Stadium. The Victory Parade was the brainchild of Whangarei local, Vicky Flavell, who joined forces with Karma Flavell and Luanne Wedgwood to create an event that would give local Northland fashion designers a chance to show their creative work and connect with their community. Vicky and Karma have both walked their own journeys to recovery from the experience of being suicidal and they decided to use The Victory Parade as a way to raise money for suicide prevention. When Engage Aotearoa and Key to Life took the Community Korero suicide prevention talks to Whangarei in May, The Victory Parade team kindly offered to donate all of the proceeds from the event to Engage Aotearoa.

On the 28th of September when Engage Aotearoa representatives arrived at Toll Stadium, people were already gathering at the entrance to buy last-minute tickets and get a spot at the front of the queue. Around 110 people turned out for the show, emceed by Vince Cocurullo. The night kicked-off with a rendition of Blindspott’s ‘Phlex’ from local youth band W.I.S and a speech from Engage Aotearoa’s service director, Miriam Larsen-Barr; an opportunity to thank everyone involved and share information about where people feeling suicidal can find help. Then came the catwalk shows. As well as showcasing Northland designers, The Victory Parade displayed the diversity of the community in a positive way; the models included a range of body-shapes, ages and ethnicities all looking incredibly comfortable in their skin.

Engage Aotearoa and Community Mental-Health Resources Trust (CMHRT) offer their heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in The Victory Parade, from the organisers to those who provided free or subsidised resources, sponsored costs, donated time, presented a collection, modelled on the runway, performed in one of the dances or attended the show. The event was a resounding success and each and every one of the people involved was part of making that happen.

Victory_Thankyou_Poster

The team would especially like to thank Vicky Flavell and her power-duo, Karma Flavell and Luanne Wedgwood for bringing it all together.  

Proceeds raised by The Victory Parade will be used to print more copies of The Butterfly Diaries.

The Victory Parade Organisers:
Vicky Flavell, Karma Flavell and Luanne Wedgwood.

The Victory Parade Designers:
Tracey Davies, Samantha Wakelin, Neisha Maree, Charlotte Davidson, Julie Pyle, Simon Richards, Mercy, Tracey Harvey, Jessie Rose, Krakens Lair and the Steampunk crew.

The Victory Parade Sponsors:
Absolute Caterers, Ashleigh Higgins, Bev Redwood, Blooms Florist, Kani Krew, Otaika Pharmacy, People Potential, QVS, Sharon Gibson Life and Style, Toll Stadium, Tru Colours Ltd and Verna Flavell

Posted in: Engage Updates ⋅ Tagged: , , , , ,

No. 145: Look for Movement

October 17, 2013 3:36 pm ⋅ 
This week, to attain, maintain or regain your sense of wellbeing...

...practice pausing and looking for movement in your environment. Notice the movement of leaves in the wind, people walking, cars driving, clouds moving across the sky, and other forms of movement around you. Take a moment to be fully present with the movement you observe, noticing the patterns, rhythms, and beauty in the movement around you. When you get caught up in your thoughts or feelings, simply acknowledge them to yourself and redirect your awareness back to observing movement in your surroundings.  

Once you are comfortable with this practice, add Look for Movement to your Personal Coping Kete for times of stress and distress.By looking for movement, you will be able to connect with the dynamic, changing nature of life and acknowledge difficult thoughts and feelings without letting them dominate your awareness.
Posted in: Self-Soothing ⋅ Tagged:

Mental Health and Addictions Services Serious Adverse Event Report

October 5, 2013 11:29 pm ⋅

The Health Quality and Safety Commission have released the first report setting out the serious adverse events (SAEs) that New Zealand’s 20 district health boards (DHBs) have reported in the previous year.

  • Between 1 July 2012 and 30 June 2013, 177 SAEs affecting patients of mental health and addictions services were reported by DHBs.
  • SAEs by Type:
    • 134: death by suspected suicide
    • 17: serious self-harm
    • 17: serious adverse behaviour
    • 5: going missing from inpatient facility (no harm)
    • 4: other event resulting in patient harm.

The Commission has agreed in principle to a two-year working partnership with the Ministry of Health to develop a trial of a suicide mortality review function to improve knowledge of contributing factors and patterns of suicidal behaviour, and to better identify key intervention points for suicide prevention.

The SAEs were reported in accordance with the process set out in the national reportable events policy, whereby health and disability providers identify, review and report events which have caused, or could have caused, serious harm to the patient.

Click here to read a copy of the full report. 

Posted in: Human Rights and Legal Issues, News, Research, Suicide Prevention/Support ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

Call for Evidence to Improve Physical Health of People Living with Mental-Health Problems

October 5, 2013 11:16 pm ⋅

Take action for health equity: Working together to improve the physical health of people with a severe mental illness and/or addiction

Te Pou is working with Platform and its members on a collaborative project which aims to take action to improve the relatively poor physical health of people who have been diagnosed with a severe mental-health problem, including major depressive disorder, bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia and/or addiction. Te Pou and Platform want to hear from organisations or individuals that have conducted evaluations or gathered evidence in the course of their work that will help to build a picture of what works to improve the physical health of people with mental-health problems.

To find out more about this project click here.

Posted in: Community Participation, News, Physical Health, Research, Social Change ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

No. 144: Be Aware of My Choices

October 2, 2013 9:57 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅
This week, to attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellbeing… ""… I will practice noticing all the different ways I can control my outcomes by paying attention to the choices I make each day and purposefully choosing the option that moves me towards more of what I want. This week, as I move through each day, I will practice being aware of each of the small choices I make. When I notice that I am making a choice, I will practice pausing to observe what options I am choosing between and what the possible outcomes of each of the options might be. I will then deliberately choose the option that will bring me closer to what I want for my future – whether that is how I want to feel later in the day or what I want to be doing next year. I’ ll start out doing this with the small choices I make, such as what I eat and drink, what I watch on TV, what I work on next, where I sit and everyday things like that. Noticing how my small choices change the way I experience my daily life, might help me to be make more mindful decisions, that effect me in more positive ways. Slowing down and thinking about our choices is especially hard when we are distressed, which is why we so often do and say things we regret when we feel angry or upset. If I practice slowing down and being aware of my choices in everyday moments, it might be easier to slow myself down and think about my choices when I’ m distressed. In this way, I will learn how to hold my own responses and act based on what I want and need, not just on what I feel. This week, as I notice myself making a choice, I will pause, ask myself what the other options are, think about the possible consequences and what consequences I want, then choose the option that brings me closer the outcome I desire. When I am comfortable pausing myself and observing my options before I make everyday kinds of choices, I will add ‘ Be Aware of my Choices’ to my Personal Coping Kete as a way of coping during times of stress and distress. By being aware of the choices I am making and choosing the option that brings me closer to what I want for my future, I will be able to guide myself through the tough moments in a way that has a positive effect on me, rather than getting caught up in my distress and making coping decisions that make things harder in the long-run. The simple act of stopping to think through the options and make myself aware of what I want and need will help me practice giving myself a delay between feeling and acting, a mini time-out to have a little think. Doing this could be a form of mindful distraction, moving my mind away from how I feel in the moment to what I want in the future and what my choices are.
Posted in: Engagement, Mindful Distraction ⋅ Tagged: , , , , ,

The Butterfly Diaries Volume 1: Launch & Order Details

September 28, 2013 1:54 am ⋅

The Butterfly Diaries Volume 1 is a FREE book of inspiring stories and personal tips from four people who have recovered from the experience of being suicidal.

Launch Details:

NOTE: Event Moved to Sunday 13th of October due to rain forecast for Saturday the 12th. 

BDiariesLaunchFlyerV1

Engage Aotearoa will be launching The Butterfly Diaries Volume 1 at Fiesta in the Park on the 13th of October for Mental Health Awareness Week. Come along to the free public concert and pop into The Butterfly Diaries Tent – a quiet corner covered in white paper butterflies where you can stop by to decorate a butterfly with a survival tip of your own, pick up a copy of the book, relax with a copy in the reading corner or listen to the authors and editors read from the book.

  • Where: Fiesta in the Park, Western Park, Ponsonby, Auckland
  • When: From midday Sunday 13 October 2012
    Reading Times:
    12:30 – 1:00 pm Michelle Bolton reads from Breathe and Breathe and Breathe by Phoebe Wright
    1:30 – 2:00 pm Owen Bullock reads from Enough Angels
    2:30 – 3:00 pm Miriam Larsen-Barr reads from Welcome to Today by Henrietta Bollinger
  • 3:30 – 4:00 pm Raewyn Alexander reads from Emerging from the Past, Transformed

The Butterfly Diaries, Volume 1
Four true stories of transformation told by four New Zealand writers.

  • Stories by Raewyn Alexander, Henrietta Bollinger, Owen Bullock and Phoebe Wright.
  • Foreword by Mike King
  • Edited by Miriam Larsen-Barr and Michelle Bolton

In Aotearoa, New Zealand, 1 in 6 people have suicidal thoughts each year. It is a normal human response to feel hopeless sometimes. It takes a great deal of distress tolerance, brute determination, skill development, support and understanding to survive the urge to act on those thoughts and feelings when they arise. But hardly anyone ever talks about suicidal thoughts and feelings, making it even harder for people to find out how to get through. The Butterfly Diaries gives voice to the stories of those who have been there and made it out alive. Sean, Jane, Mary and Brad have all been suicidal, survived their own suicide attempts and found their way to a place where they are glad to be living their lives. In The Butterfly Diaries they share how they strengthened their wings and learned to fly.

The first edition of The Butterfly Diaries Volume 1 will be placed in high-schools and GP waiting rooms across the NZ, to make recovery stories easy to find. Suicide rates peak among youth and most people who are suicidal visit a GP in the months leading up to making an attempt, even if they do not talk about how they are really feeling.

How to Order Copies

You can nominate a service or person to receive a copy of The Butterfly Diaries or order a copy for yourself by making a donation on the Engage Aotearoa website to cover the cost of posting your book. Just fill in your details and give the delivery address in the space provided. The minimum donation is set at NZ$2.50 (the cost of NZ postage and handling). A donation of $5 will get a copy posted for you and cover the costs of printing a copy for someone else.

Click here to order a copy of The Butterfly Diaries

Contact Engage Aotearoa for more information

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Want to help prevent suicide in NZ?

You can help get more copies of The Butterfly Diaries out there for people to read. Sponsor a print run by making a donation on the Engage Aotearoa website.  Every donation over $5 is tax deductible. A $20 donation pays for eight more books. A $500 donation prints enough books for a small school. 

Posted in: Asian Communities, Community Participation, Engage Updates, Entertainment and Creativity, Families/Whanau, Maori Communities, Men, News, Older People and Aging, Parents and Parenting, People with Disabilities, Personal Development Tools, Recovery Stories, Service-User Movement, Social Change, Suicide Prevention/Support, Women, Young People and Youth Issues ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , ,