Network Makes Strong Inroads on Service Development

Media Release

Date: Wednesday 9 October 2013

Midland Mental Health And Addictions Network Makes Strong Inroads on Service And Workforce Development

This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week theme is “connect”, and the themes of connect and connectedness are strongly evident in the work of the Midland Mental Health and Addictions Network.

Established eight years ago, a great deal of work has been progressed by the Midland Mental Health and Addictions Network, across the development of mental health and addiction services and workforce, relationships and partnerships.

The small Midland Mental Health and Addictions Network works exhaustively across a range of networks, with the team focusing on:
• Leading and championing regional mental health and addiction planning
• Leading service improvement
• Supporting the achievement of health targets and policy priorities
• Linking to national and regional governance structures and processes
• Leading and/or supporting the development of nationally consistent approaches to mental health and addiction
• Reducing inequalities in mental health and addiction outcomes

The team comprises Regional Director Eseta Nonu Reid, Midland PRIMHD Decision Support Coordinator Belinda Walker, Midland Workforce Planning Lead Nathalie Esaiah-Tiata and Senior Administrator Akatu Marsters. This year’s work includes three main projects:

The Consumer Workers Competency Framework Project aims to develop a framework for service users and peer support competency. The project will also provide a Midland perspective to a wider project with Te Pou, Northern Alliance and Midland Share Services, and feed into the MoH Service Development plan strategies

The Family Whanau Workers Competency Framework Project will develop a family whanau worker competency framework, at the same time as feeding into regional and national work in this area.

The third main project for the year is the Perinatal and Maternal Stocktake of Secondary Services Project. This is a stocktake of secondary infant and maternal mental health and addictions services across the region, looking at how the services recommended in the guiding document, Healthy Beginnings are being implemented across the region. The project also looks at how services ensure there are options for providing clinically appropriate care in settings that allow mother and baby to be together, and where these care options are across the Midland region.

Mental Health Awareness celebrations will also coincide with the three summits that the Midland Region Mental Health and Addiction team and their stakeholders will be holding during the October and November, all in Rotorua.

Each summit will be held over two days. The Family Whanau and the Consumer Summit’s first day will focus on innovative engagement or service delivery presentations from across the Midland sector providers and the second day will focus on finalising the draft competency frameworks for family/whanau workers and consumer workers.

The inaugural Midland Mental Health & Addictions Youth Summit will have two streams – one will be for providers of youth services and the second stream has been developed by youth for youth. The aim of the summit is to promote innovative and creative ways of engaging with youth to ensure mental health and addiction services are effective.

Regional Director of the Midland Mental Health & Addiction Network, Eseta Nonu-Reid says the summit also wants to get feedback from youth on what works, what doesn’t work and how the service providers can improve what they do.

The Midland Regional Network: Mental Health & Addictions continues to maintain its key regional stakeholder networks:

1. Clinical Governance Network
2. Regional Portfolio Managers Group
3. He Tipuana Nga Kakano (Consumer Leadership Network)
4. Te Ao Whanau (Family Whanau Leadership Network)
5. Te Huinga o Nga Pou Hauora (Maori Leadership Network)
6. Addictions Leadership Network
7. Workforce Leadership Network

During the 2012-13 year, community mental health services staff saw 7900 patients in the Bay of Plenty, 4270 in Lakes, 2150 in Tairawhiti , just under 4000 in the Taranaki DHB area and 10,400 in the Waikato DHB area.

For more information about Mental Health Awareness Week go to
http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz

ENDS

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