Engage Aotearoa

Category Archives: Parents And Parenting

Reducing Post Natal Depression

November 12, 2012 4:44 am ⋅

How to decrease the chance of getting postnatal depression

MEDIA RELEASE: Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand

31 October 2012

The fifth Dragon Baby story posted on the Mental Health Foundation’s English-Mandarin Kai Xin Xing Dong website is intended to support and encourage new parents.

The story’s theme this week coincides with the lead up to Postnatal Depression Awareness Week 17-25 November

Gill Graham, from the Maternal and Infant Mental Health Team – Nga Whetu Taiohi – at Counties Manukau District Health Board, advises Asian immigrants about common mental health issues for new parents and how to lower the risk of postnatal depression

http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/calendar/view/listing/889/

According to Gill, the most common mental health issue for a new mother is postnatal depression. She talks about how mothers and fathers can identify when things are wrong and gives some practical ways to feel better.

The Mental Health Foundation also supplies an excellent free postnatal depression pamphlet for English speakers.

http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/file/downloads/pdf/file_84.pdf

We are posting one Dragon Baby story a week, for seven weeks, about the challenges Chinese parents face bringing up their newborn “dragon babies” in New Zealand society.

We understand that new parents need help and support and, sometimes, just by knowing where to find these can be all you need to feel more confident. We hope by reading these parents’ stories people will not feel so alone.

The stories also give lots of practical advice for the first years of a child’s life and beyond. They also touch on post natal depression and where to get help.

The series coincides with the launch of the Chinese Mental Health Consultation Services’ new Vagus helpline.

All stories are published online in English and Mandarin.

Vagus Line             0800 56 76 666      

This new service is to promote family harmony among Chinese, enhance parenting skills, decrease conflict among family members (couple, parent-child, in-laws) and stop family violence.

It provides free, confidential and professional advice, such as parenting strategies and communication skills. If necessary, clients can be referred to Vagus counselling services or related resources.

Service hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 12 noon to 2pm

Year of the Dragon

2012 is the Chinese Year of the Dragon and has given rise to the phrase “dragon baby” for families expecting a new arrival.

The dragon is the mightiest zodiac sign in Chinese astrology, and is associated with traits such as success, ambition and independence. Many mothers consider this to be a particularly auspicious year to give birth.

In recognition of this, we have made a special Dragon Baby section on the Kai Xin Xing Dong website, where we offer Chinese language information for new and expectant mothers.

Kai Xin Xing Dong

Kai Xin Xing Dong is a Like Minds, Like Mine public education programme aimed at reducing the stigma and discrimination faced by Chinese people who experience mental illness. The project is funded by the Ministry of Health and guided by the Kai Xin Xing Dong Advisory Group.

For more information please contact:

Paula Taylor
Communications & Marketing Manager
DDI:   (09) 300 7025
Mobile: 021 300 594
paula@mentalhealth.org.nz

For comment in Mandarin, please contact: 

Ivan Yeo
Mental Health Promoter
DDI:   (09) 300 7017
Mobile: 027 2808 972
ivan@mentalhealth.org.nz

Posted in: Asian Communities, Families/Whanau, Online Resources, Parents and Parenting ⋅ Tagged: , ,

2012 Monitoring Report on the Rights of People with Disabilities in NZ Released

October 28, 2012 12:31 am ⋅

How NZ Treats People with Disabilities

In case anyone has missed this, here is a link to the full report launched last Wednesday 24 October.
http://www.dpa.org.nz/news/3-news/218-2012-monitoring-report-released

Posted in: Accessibility / Transport, Accommodation / Housing, Disability Issues, Human Rights and Legal Issues, Parents and Parenting, People with Disabilities, Politics and Policy ⋅ Tagged: , ,

UK Expands Definition of Domestic Violence

October 23, 2012 3:06 am ⋅

New UK domestic violence definition includes coercive control

The UK Home Office has announced it will expand the definition of domestic violence to include ‘coercive control’ and to cover people 16 years of age and older.

The change is to the official definition of domestic violence used across government not the legal definition.

The expansion of the definition to cover 16 and 17 year-olds came after the British Crime Survey 2009/10 found that 16-19 year-olds were the group most likely to suffer abuse from a partner.

Link to further info on the NZFV Clearinghouse website: http://www.nzfvc.org.nz/node/793

_ _ _ _ _

Thanks to the North Shore Family Violence Prevention Network weekly E News for passing this information on. Sign up to receive their E-News directly by emailing fvpnns@gmail.com 

Posted in: Families/Whanau, Human Rights and Legal Issues, Men, News, Parents and Parenting, Research, Women, Young People and Youth Issues ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

Online Suicide Prevention Training Available!

October 12, 2012 4:04 am ⋅

QPR Online Training – Foundations in Suicide Prevention

Ask a Question –   Save a Life

Fee $50 including GST

Worried about someone? 

Learn what to look for, when to be concerned and what to say to save a life!

Click here to Purchase QPR Online Suicide Prevention Training

The training programme includes:

  • Risk factors for suicide
  • How to get help for someone in crisis
  • The warning signs of a suicide crisis
  • The common causes of suicidal behaviour
  • Relationship of mental illness to suicide
  • When and how to Question suicidal people
  • How to Persuade people to accept help
  • How to Refer people to resources

QPR New Zealand on-line Suicide Prevention Training

Learn to save a life in as little as two hours, anywhere, anytime.QPR New Zealand offers a comprehensive online training programme, using the latest in educational web technology.  This training will arm you with the skills you need to help prevent suicide today.

QPR stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer – 3 simple steps that anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. Just as people are trained in CPR to help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of suicide and how to question, persuade, and refer someone for help.

Posted in: Families/Whanau, Older People and Aging, Online Resources, Parents and Parenting, People with Disabilities, Social Change, Suicide Prevention/Support, Young People and Youth Issues ⋅ Tagged: , ,

Community Consultation on The Ministry’s Mental Health and Addiction Service Development Plan

October 12, 2012 3:51 am ⋅

The Ministry of Health is releasing for stakeholder consultation Rising to the Challenge: The Mental Health and Addiction Service Development Plan 2012 – 2017.  The purpose of the Plan is to provide direction for mental health and addiction service delivery across the health sector over the next five years, and to clearly articulate Government expectations about what changes are needed to build on and enhance gains made in the delivery of mental health and addictions in recent years. The Plan incorporates key themes from Blueprint II and advances the Government’s focus on better performing public services. The plan has also been informed by input from preliminary sector consultations.

The consultation period will run from 8 October 2012 to 2 November 2012.  Feedback closes on Friday 2 November 2012 at 5.00 pm. Please note that any feedback forms received after this time will not be included in the analysis of feedback.

How to respond

You can respond using the consultation response questionnaire attached to the consultation document. Email your local coordinator to request a consultation document and feedback form.

Attend a regional consultation workshop in your region during October.

You may already be aware of these meetings.  If not, please email the contact person identified for further details if you wish to attend.

Your views and feedback are welcome and can be provided:

a) by email to:  SDP@moh.govt.nz

b)   in writing to:  April-Mae Marshall, Mental Health Service Improvement Group,  Ministry of Health,  PO Box 5013,  Wellington.

All feedback forms will be acknowledged by the Ministry of Health and a summary of feedback will be sent to all those who request a copy. We look forward to your feedback which will assist us to finalise this document.

Posted in: Addiction/Substance Abuse, Asian Communities, Community Participation, Disability Issues, Families/Whanau, Human Rights and Legal Issues, Men, News, Older People and Aging, Parents and Parenting, People with Disabilities, Politics and Policy, Service-User Movement, Social Change, Women, Young People and Youth Issues ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

Ministry Consultation on Payment for Family Carers

September 20, 2012 12:41 pm ⋅

Please find below the information about the Ministry of Health’s consultation on payment for family carers.

The Ministry is holding workshops in various cities.

  • Workshops afternoon and evening, Dunedin, Tuesday 2nd October.
  • Workshops afternoon and evening, Christchurch, Wednesday 3rd October.
  • Workshops afternoon and evening, Wellington, Monday 8th October.
  • Workshops afternoon and evening, Hamilton, Tuesday 9th October.
  • Workshops afternoon and evening, Auckland, Wednesday 10th October.
  • Workshops afternoon and evening, Palmerston North, Tuesday 16th October.

Please let Auckland Disability Law know if you would like them to coordinate an additional independent community hui in Auckland to discuss the consultation and to assist people in completing their own submissions.

The closing date and time for submissions is 5 pm, Tuesday 6 November 2012

Contact

Auckland Disability Law
Phone 09 257 5140
Fax 09 275 4693
Mobile 0274575140
email info@adl.org.nz
www.aucklanddisabilitylaw.org.nz

Posted in: Community Participation, Disability Issues, Families/Whanau, Parents and Parenting, Politics and Policy ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , ,

It’s not OK Campaign Turns Focus to Protecting Children

August 21, 2012 9:52 am ⋅

New Resources from It’s not OK campaign focus on protecting children

A new series of posters, postcards and stickers focus on the role we all have to play in protecting children in our families and communities.

Research shows that violence in the home affects children whether they see it, hear it or just know about it.

Child abuse is most often linked to partner abuse.  In 2010 70% of child abuse cases attended by Police were family violence related and half involved children being present.

All Black Liam Messam, Sports Broadcaster Jenny May Coffin and Comedian Ben Hurley feature on the new resources.

The new resources can be ordered from 1 August by any person or organisation from the It’s not OK website at http://www.areyouok.org.nz/.

Also, don’t forget to keep in touch with what’s happening around the country at www.facebook.com/ItsNotOK 

 

Posted in: Community Participation, Families/Whanau, Human Rights and Legal Issues, Men, Parents and Parenting, Social Change, Women, Young People and Youth Issues ⋅ Tagged: , , , , ,

Acclaim Otago Launches Independent ACC survey

July 23, 2012 6:55 am ⋅

As a support group for injured people, Acclaim Otago is concerned that there is very little in the way of current and independent data available that accurately describes aspects of an injured person’s experience with ACC.

Acclaim Otago’s president, Dr Denise Powell says, “This is especially obvious when talking about rehabilitation and Vocational Independence. We are hearing anecdotally, that people are being exited from ACC without first receiving meaningful rehabilitation”.

ACC has recently said that “rehabilitation always comes first” but Dr Powell says “We have no simple way of finding out if this is correct or not. ACC does not currently keep data that identifies what happens once a person exits the scheme and we believe that is a huge gap. This survey aims to find out what happens to people who are clients of ACC.”

“We hope to use the survey results to make recommendations that will substantially improve the experience of injured people in New Zealand. We believe any improvements we can identify to the scheme will benefit not just the ACC and their clients, but potentially generations of New Zealanders to come” Dr Powell states.

The survey can be found at

Posted in: Community Participation, Disability Issues, Older People and Aging, Parents and Parenting, People with Disabilities, Research, Trauma, Young People and Youth Issues ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

Script: A Newsletter for Young Dads

July 13, 2012 8:06 am ⋅

The latest Issue of the Script is out – a newsletter from the Young Dads Group (Supported by The Glen Innes Family Centre – Te Waipuna Puawai – Thrive Teen Parent Support Trust)

Posted in: Men, Parents and Parenting, Young People and Youth Issues ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , ,

Ministry of Justice Proposes Cutting Disability Law Services

July 7, 2012 1:49 am ⋅

Help Save Disability Law

The Ministry of Justice is proposing to withdraw funding for direct specialist legal services for the disability community from June 2013.

This will mean that there will no longer be a community law centre specialising in the complex legal needs of disabled people.  There will be no Auckland Disability Law.

Auckland Disability Law is calling for the Ministry of Justice to rethink this proposal.

At Engage Aotearoa, we think there should be specialist disability law services available to disabled people throughout New Zealand, including Auckland Disability Law. We frequently refer people to this service.

Your Help is Needed!

Key Things You Can Do:

Sign the Open Letter to Judith Collins, the Minister of Justice as an individual or on behalf of your organisation (attached (right click the link to save the document) and available on Auckland Disability Law’s Facebook page or by email from info@adl.org.nz).  Email to sign the letter and send your organisation’s logo.

Come to the “Save Disability Law” Community Hui

Send a message to the government that we are serious about saving disability law through the continued funding of Auckland Disability Law and extending specialist legal services nationally for disabled people.

  • When:  Monday 30th July 2012, 1pm till 3pm
  • Where:   Western Springs Garden Community Hall, 956 Great North Road
  • Invited speakers: Mojo Mathers, Sue Bradford, Clive Lansink

Other Things That You Can Do to Help

Write your own letter to Justice Minister Judith Collins

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/minister/judith-collins

Write to the newspapers, or put out your own press release

Contact Auckland Disability Law for further information

Follow Auckland Disability Law on Facebook

Search and click the ‘like’ button on the Auckland Disability Law Facebook page

Further Information

If you require any further information or you are able to help the campaign in any way, please contact, Auckland Disability Law:

Nicola Owen, Development Manager, Auckland Disability Law

Posted in: Accessibility / Transport, Addiction/Substance Abuse, Community Participation, Disability Issues, Families/Whanau, Human Rights and Legal Issues, News, Parents and Parenting, People with Disabilities, Service-User Movement, Social Change, Support ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , ,