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There Is No Health Without Mental Health in This Issue

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There Is No Health Without Mental Health in This Issue CEO UPDATE 27 August 2018 There is no health without mental health Last Friday the Coroner released the provisional suicide statistics for each region in New Zealand. It was extremely sad to again be confronted with another increase in the number of suicides recorded in Canterbury. Every suicide is a tragedy for individuals, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, partners, friends, family and work mates. Preventing suicide is complex as there is no single cause. grow. When people don’t receive the right support for their This is a whole of society problem to solve and we need to mental health at the right time, things can get worse come together as a community to ensure people are quickly. People don’t reach their potential and they struggle. connected and supported through life events. This has a negative impact on our whole community. I echo our Chief of Psychiatry Peri Renison’s comments from Mental health exists in a range between wellness and last week regarding looking out for each other: “I encourage mental illness. We all need to rethink how we view mental everyone to be there for the people around them – as we do health, how we approach addressing the challenges people not always know who is struggling to cope.” face and how we as a community can support people to be mentally healthy and to be there when things go wrong. We Everyone has mental health in the same way as everyone need to tackle the causes of mental ill health rather than has physical health. Canterbury is made up of communities the effects. that care about mental health and wellbeing. We know this because people tell us, through the media, social media, Many of us have to get I encourage feedback to health and support services, and in our through tough times, which everyone to be day-to-day conversations. Poor mental health affects the impact on our mental way people feel about themselves, their relationships with health at some point in our there for the others, and their experience of life. We want every lives, and we all know people around Cantabrian to support and improve mental health and people who have struggled wellbeing by contributing to the elimination of stigma and with addiction – whether it them – as we to help build resilience. is our friends, neighbours, work colleagues, family do not always The majority of people in Canterbury are mentally well and members or loved ones. are able to cope with challenges in their lives, but poor know who is mental health remains one of the biggest challenges facing In Canterbury the latest struggling Canterbury and is often much higher in certain figures show that more communities, especially those with higher levels of poverty than 90,000 people to cope. and where the mental health care available or received received mental health support from the health system does not always meet their needs. For some people (either DHB specialist services, community-based non- connecting with health services can be extremely government organisations or primary health services) challenging for a number of reasons, including not having a since the earthquakes. Just over half of this group – regular general practice team, transport or funds to get to including more than 11,400 children and adolescents, appointments. Our services have been under strain since a 26,800 adults and 9,700 older people – have required year after the 2011 earthquakes and demand continues to specialist services. In this issue › Regulars... pg 4-9 › Determined advocate for Women’s Health, pharmacist | Breathe Better September... › Are you filing information under ‘N’ for Michael Laney, retires from Canterbury pg 14 ‘Never find again’?... pg 10 DHB... pg 12 › One minute with... pg 15 › Child Development Service helps improve › Appointment of Clinical Director, › Notices... pg 16-23 quality of life for teen and Community and Public Health... pg 13 his mother... pg 11 › Canterbury DHB’s first prescribing 1 27 August 2018 With one in five Cantabrians being cared for, nearly every We have an opportunity to make such a fundamental household within Canterbury will have or know someone difference to the health and wellbeing of everyone living in who has a lived experience of mental health problems. our region. There are an increasing number of cities/ regions throughout the world that are now recognising the At least one in five Cantabrians is likely to mental health challenges facing their communities and experience a mental health disorder in any looking to take very different approaches. given year. In July 2017 the City of London outlined their aspirations as For many people, the support required is short-term and follows: equips them to cope with life’s challenges. For others, the › A city where individuals and communities take the lead pathway can be more difficult and take much longer to › A city free from mental health stigma and discrimination address complex issues impacting their wellbeing. › A city that maximises the potential of children and young Yet often even though we are all touched by mental health, people there is still stigma attached and outdated attitudes linger. › A city with a happy, healthy and productive workforce This is in part perpetuated by the ongoing negative media coverage of mental health issues. As a society we are still › A city with services that are there when and where not comfortable talking about mental health in the way needed that we should be. Recognising we all have mental health › A zero suicide city. status ranging from wellness to illness is important as we THRIVE has been adopted by New York City and West all play a role in supporting people who are experiencing Midlands in the UK. There’s an opportunity for Canterbury mental illness. to show leadership in this space. Mental wellness is about knowing yourself, your strengths While we’re talking mental health, I’d like to share some and vulnerabilities. Being kind to yourself, doing more of recent feedback received by our specialist mental what makes you happy and helps your wellbeing and health services mental health than what harms it and, importantly, seeking help if you need it. Some excerpts from this week include: Many people with poor mental health have trouble gaining “Their support and understanding was exemplary” and retaining work, and maintaining suitable housing. “Thank you all for getting me back to 100 percent wellness” These people are more likely to have physical health “Outstanding and very caring service” problems and they are at greater risk of dying at a younger age. Their journey at one end of the mental health spectrum “The 24-hour phone back up of the direct phone service was requires the best of our health services and also the a most valuable support” support of our community. “Staff were really professional and caring” As Canterbury continues to emerge from the challenges “I appreciated that the staff understood where I was at and following the earthquakes and the opportunities that have never pushed or judged me” been created, it is clear that we have a region full of people making brilliant ideas become reality. It is also clear that we “I will never forget the support and warmth I got from staff need to take some very different approaches if we are going members” to rethink how we view mental health within our community. “I have seen a change in my daughter lately and attribute this We are all responsible for the improvement in Aotearoa’s to the ongoing support from the staff my child is working with” mental health. How we live, parent, connect, work and play “This is truly making a difference to my son’s overall contributes to mental health. I’d like to see a broader wellbeing” strategy around mental health that extends beyond simply providing services. There are cities around the world that “The continued care was personalised and at no time have developed public health approaches to mental health rushed. All our questions were answered” called THRIVE. Often led by councils in partnership with “Outstanding and went above and beyond our expectations” private and public entities, these approaches make the mental health of residents an explicit focus. All parties can “There is so much bad press about the Canterbury mental connect in and bring this strategy to life because they know health services but I only have praise and gratitude for the how they are contributing to mental wellbeing, whether it’s service provided to me by the team of very empathetic and through specific community projects, employer initiatives, special people” creation of spaces and events, or visibility of leadership around mental health. 2 27 August 2018 Reminder: if you have concerns about anything in your work area, ensure your voice is heard and appropriate follow-up takes place Last week I was extremely concerned to hear, via the media, If you don’t think that a concern you’ve raised has been that a group of nurses didn’t feel their concerns about appropriately addressed, there are a number of very clear sexual abuse in their workplace had been taken seriously. pathways you can follow to escalate your concerns about anything that requires attention or investigation. These I want to make it very clear that any form of abuse – include raising the concerns with your line manager or including from patients to staff – is taken extremely clinical leader, raising the issue directly with someone from seriously. Our electronic incident reporting system Safety our People and Capability (HR) team, or contacting your First is available to any staff member to report an incident union or professional body.
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