Newsletter - Nelson Bays Primary Health

Well-News for Workplaces
Health Action Trust Nelson
Newsletter 6, Autumn 2013
This newsletter from the Mental Health Promotion team at Health Action Trust
contains research, resources and ideas for supporting mentally healthy workplaces
in the Nelson Tasman region and beyond.
In this edition:
Rural Mental Health and Wellbeing Support:
~Dealing with depression
~Federated Farmer's 'When Life's a Bitch', rural mental health campaign
~Other rural support
Free Self-Help Courses
Diversity and Business Performance
Get The Tools - the nuts and bolts of men's health
Guidelines provide practical advice
Business Forum on Mental Health News
Workplace Wellbeing in the Nelson Tasman Region
Rural Mental Health and Wellbeing Support:
~Dealing with depression
Hawke's Bay farmer David Hunt describes how living with depression has impacted on his life and farming
operation, and the support that helped him to get through this.
Interview (2013, February 1, Radio New Zealand)
~Federated Farmer's 'When Life's a Bitch', rural mental health campaign
Federated Farmers has combined with those in the primary industries and other health organisations, to get
the message out that we need better resources for rural mental health. That starts with more open discussion
around the issue of how to improve access in remote areas. Federated Farmer’s ‘When Life’s a Bitch’, rural
mental health campaign, is under way and picking up traction. Wallet sized ‘When Life’s a Bitch’ cards are now
arriving in farmers’ mail boxes right around the country. Federated Farmer’s website now has a page dedicated
to Rural Mental Health, providing information, tools, contacts and people’s stories. Media Release
~Other rural support
Several other organisations have also developed great initiatives to improve rural mental wellbeing. Rural
Woman New Zealand has released their Feeling Rotten survey and there is also the Dairy Farmer Wellness and
Wellbeing Programme, focused on rural mental and physical health, which is run by the Dairy Women’s
Network, Dairy NZ, the New Zealand Institute of Rural Health and AgResearch. Several of the Rural Support
Trusts also provide support to people experiencing depression.

Free Self-Help Courses
A series of free, online self-help courses are now available from the Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety and
Depression (CRUFAD Centre) at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney. https://thiswayup.org.au/self-help/
Topics include: Worry and Sadness, Shyness and Stress Management .
Learn more
Diversity and Business Performance
The business benefits of diversity are outlined in a report based on a survey completed by 1,550 employees
and published by the Victorian Government’s Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and Deloitte
Australia. Business data from three companies were used to demonstrate that being an inclusive workplace has
a significant impact on absenteeism, and is also correlated with higher performance rankings. Like many other
studies, the behaviour of managers and senior leaders has a key impact on how inclusive a workplace is felt to
be by employees.
Read the report here.
Get The Tools - the nuts and bolts of men's health
http://www.getthetools.org.nz/the-toolbox/mental-health/
The Get the Tools website has been developed to provide the latest health and well-being information and
support for Kiwi blokes, and ultimately to ensure that our men get to stick around and celebrate more
birthdays with their families.
Guidelines provide practical advice
When employees return to work following depression, anxiety or a related mental health problem, they need
support from their workplace.
Guidelines have been developed by Mental Health First Aid, a national non-profit training and research
programme at the University of Melbourne, to assist workplaces to know how to support employees returning
to work after experiencing common mental health issues. The guidelines consist of actions rated as important
or essential by expert panels of consumers, employers and health professionals and are available online.
They are especially important given recent research that suggests that over 70 million working days are lost
annually to conditions such as depression and anxiety in the UK alone. In response, the UK government has
launched a campaign encouraging employers to take a mental health stock take of their workforce.
Download Guidelines for organisations: Helping employees successfully return to work following depression,
anxiety or a related mental health problem here.
Business Forum on Mental Health News
The Business Forum on Mental Health was established in Nelson Tasman in 2009 to build relationships
between local health agencies and the business sector to improve mental health within our community’s
workplaces. In October the Business Forum released its Workplace Wellbeing Game, which can be used in a
workplace at any time of the year. It is free and can be obtained through the Health Action Trust Nelson
website http://www.healthaction.org.nz/businessforum/tools-and-resources/
Workplace Wellbeing in the Nelson Tasman Region
Health Action Trust’s Mental Health Promoter, Sue Bateup, has developed a comprehensive approach to
workplace wellbeing which includes tailored workshops, educational and awareness programmes, policies and
procedures support, and resource development. These can be adapted to suit individual businesses. For further
information Sue’s contact details are below.
This newsletter is sent out seasonally. If you would like a pdf copy for distribution, please contact us.
Thanks to the NZ Mental Health Foundation and WorkWell Toi Te Ora for some of the material in this issue.
Please feel free to pass the information on (but we would appreciate you acknowledging the source).
Contributions are accepted at the discretion of the editorial team.
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Sue Bateup, Mental Health Promoter, Health Action Trust, 26 New Street, Nelson.
Tel: 03 5482798 ext. 5 Email:sue@healthaction.org.nz, Web: www.healthaction.org.nz