Achieving happy headspaces

Reflecting on Mental Health Awareness Week

By Natasha Parrant

Real Collective director Anna Mowat

With the Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW) that just occurred (September 26th until October 2nd) it’s important to reflect on mental health awareness among young people and tamariki.

Aotearoa’s youth are struggling to deal with mental health. In 2021 Unicef stated, “In Aotearoa, mental distress among youth has increased significantly over the last decade and around 21 percent of adolescent boys and girls aged 10-19 live with a mental disorder.” So, what are Aotearoa schools and the government doing to prevent these statistics from rising in the future? The Ministry of Education (MoE) operations and integration leader (hautū) Sean Teddy says the ministry acknowledges life is challenging for Aotearoa’s youth. “All young people deserve an education that enables them to develop healthy relationships to become confident in their own identities and develop the skills to look after their own wellbeing and that of others. “We work alongside educators to help them develop effective whole school approaches to supporting student wellbeing. “Providing safe, inclusive learning environments where students feel they belong is an important aspect of supporting mental wellbeing and initiatives such as Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) School-Wide, the Bullying-Free NZ website, the Wellbeing@School survey toolkits, and PB4L Restorative Practices support schools to do this. “There is also a growing range of resources and initiatives including Ka Hikitia, Tā Taiako (cultural competencies for teachers of Māori learners), Huakina Mai aim to support schools and teachers to affirm the language, culture, and identity of ākonga Māori.” Do tamariki have enough support? Various psychologists, learning and behaviour resource teachers, school staff, and early childhood education (ECE) are supporting the development of skills, knowledge, and systems regarding supporting student learning and wellbeing, Sean says. “Budget 2020 provided a total of $75.8 million over four years to increase access to counselling in schools… This made counselling support available to more than 24,000 of our most vulnerable students in 164 primary, intermediate, area, and small secondary schools and will run in participating schools over three years.” The MoE also supports the Mana Ake programme conducted by the Ministry of Health. In Budget 2022 the government announced its commitment to expand Mana Ake with $90 million to hopefully begin services in Northland, Counties Manukau, Bay of Plenty, Lakes, and West Coast regions, including existing services in Canterbury and Kaikōura. “Mana Ake is a school-based programme that gives children the skills and support to deal with issues that include grief, loss, parental separation, and bullying. It also provides advice, guidance and workshops for parents, whānau, and teachers,” he says. Mental health education forms part of health and physical education. Mental health education encourages thinking more positively, more about societal pressures, and selfacceptance, Sean says. The ministry is currently developing Mental Health Education guidelines to assist teachers and kaiako in developing their mental health education programmes. The guidelines will help schools ensure there’s quality teaching, learning, supportive policies, and that the school community acknowledges local needs. These resources will be released later this year, Sean clarifies. “Ka Ora, Ka Ako, which is part of the New Zealand Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy, provides food to children at school to directly address poverty and food insecurity, and positively impact children’s wellbeing.” Anna Mowat works under Real Collective where she project manages/leads Sparklers on behalf of the Mental Health Foundation (MHF), and Te Whatu Ora Community and Public Health. Sparklers is a project the MHF supports to improve wellbeing education in schools. Anna says MHAW is important as it will “broaden tamariki’s understanding of mental health”. While some people can talk about their physical health, they might not feel as confident to talk about mental health and ask for support, Anna says. “At Sparklers, we like to use the definition of our mental health and wellbeing as feeling good and functioning well.” Mental health is about knowing who you are, contributing to overall health, and doing things that make you feel good, she says. “Schools and kura often use Tā Mason Durie’s Te Whare Tapa Whā as their model of hauora (health and wellbeing), which does a great job of recognising and embedding feeling good and functioning well inside it. We love it! “Te Whare Tapa Whā takes a holistic view of health and wellbeing and includes our taha tinana (physical health), taha whānau (the health of our whānau and friends), taha wairua (our spiritual health), taha hinengaro (our mental health), and whenua (the health of where we live and our land). “If school teams and tamariki understand that all the elements of their hauora are interconnected and interdependent then they’re able to focus on all the things that can help them feel good.” This way, MHAW and Te Whare Tapa Whā is a good way to normalise mental health, she says. Anna also advises five ways that can boost people’s mental health and wellbeing: 1. Connecting with friends and having trustworthy relationships 2. Learning new things 3. Being active daily 4. Taking notice of what’s around you 5. Giving your time or presence. Often tamariki won’t approach mental health experts for their advice. That’s why adults need to connect, check in with them, and ensure they’re there for them when they need it most. The MHF is happy to support schools and kura with enquiries about hauroa, mental health, and wellbeing. Feel free to get in touch: Anna Mowat, director at Real Collective: anna@realcollective.org,

021 712 173, www.realcollective.org.nz