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Tag Archives: Annie Chapman

Petition for Better Mental-Healthcare Choices Presented to Parliament: What Next?

June 14, 2013 12:54 pm ⋅

PetitionPresentationPhoto

Annie Chapman completed her Hikoi for Better Mental-Healthcare Choices on Tuesday the 11th of July and presented the final Petition for Better Mental-Healthcare Choices to members of parliament on the steps of the Beehive.

Chapman writes, “Well, the deed is done!! Six months after setting off from Cape Reinga, I handed over the paper petition with 1053 signatures to Paul Hutchison, who presented it to Parliament today. I will hear back from the Health Select Committee, probably in just over a week, of when the petition will be considered by the Committee and will be invited to make a submission at that time.”

The petition presentation began with the final leg of the Hikoi as Annie made her way from the Botanic Rose Gardens to the Beehive with a collection of supporters. The procession reached parliament at midday where they were joined by a crowd of about 20 and at 12.30 the politicians arrived: Dr Paul Hutchison (National MP and chair of the Health Select Committee); Annette King (Labour Spokesperson for Health and member of the H.S.C.) Barbara Stewart (NZ First M.P. and member of H.S.C.); Dr Jian Yang (National M.P. and deputy chair of H.S.C.) and Louisa Wall (Labour M.P for Manurewa).

You can still help the Hikoi get results by making a submission to the health select committee about the Petition for Better Mental-Healthcare Choices.

Contact Annie Chapman for more information on hikoiforhealth@gmail.com

Email chairperson of Health Select Committee Paul Hutchison paul.hutchison@parliament.govt.nz

Posted in: Community Participation, News, Politics and Policy, Psychiatric Medication, Service-User Movement, Social Change ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hikoi for Better Mental-Healthcare Choices Builds Up to Petition Presentation at Parliament

May 18, 2013 6:56 pm ⋅

Wellington_Hikoi_Events_29May11June2013

Posted in: Community Participation, Families/Whanau, Human Rights and Legal Issues, Maori Communities, Men, Older People and Aging, Parents and Parenting, Pasifika Communities, People with Disabilities, Politics and Policy, Rainbow / LGBTQI+ Community, Service-User Movement, Social Change, Women, Young People and Youth Issues ⋅ Tagged: , , , ,

May 2013 Issue of The Like Minds Newsletter

May 18, 2013 5:43 pm ⋅

The latest issue of the Like Minds Newsletter is available now.

The feature article explores Richard Anderson’s experience of schizophrenia, the benefits of work and his strategies for keeping well.

They cover aspects of the Like Minds National Providers Hui and hear about the resilience focus of the Noho Wananga.

This month marks the launch of the DSM-5. Like Minds talks to a psychiatrist, an international mental health consultant and a mental health advocate to get their thoughts on the revised manual. Changing Minds Manager Tina Helm offers her full perspective as a separate document, Anticipating the DSM-5.

Journalist Robyn Yousef tells us why she waited so long to ‘seize the day’ and share her story about living with bipolar disorder.

Hikoi champion Annie Chapman is walking her way around the North Island to raise awareness about choice in mental health care. She explains what is driving her and how you can support her petition.

Mental health radio show Take It From Us recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Sheldon Brown discusses his role as host and how the show came to be.

Finally, remember to sign up for Stigma Watch and check out poetry book Smells Like Sugar and SamRB’s second album Queen Street Acoustics.

You are welcome to email your feedback and story ideas to likeminds@mentalhealth.org.nz and, if you think others would enjoy receiving this e-newsletter, please forward this email so they can subscribe.

Posted in: Online Resources, Recovery Stories, Service-User Movement, Social Change ⋅ Tagged: , , , , ,

Hikoi for Better Mental-Healthcare Choices in Feilding 13 May 2013

April 23, 2013 1:29 pm ⋅

Feilding_Hikoi_Event_13May2013

 Want to help gather signatures? You can download, print and share a Paper copy of the petition here: http://hikoiforhealthychoices.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/hikoi-for-health-petition-final-written.pdf

Posted in: Community Participation, Families/Whanau, Human Rights and Legal Issues, Parents and Parenting, Politics and Policy, Service-User Movement, Social Change, Young People and Youth Issues ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , ,

One Woman Walking Hikoi Reaches Whanganui Monday 22 April 2013

April 18, 2013 10:22 pm ⋅

Whanganui_Hikoi_Events_22_23April2013

Posted in: Community Participation, Human Rights and Legal Issues, News, Politics and Policy, Psychiatric Medication, Service-User Movement, Social Change ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hikoi for Better Mental Healthcare Choices in NZ: Schedule April – May

March 31, 2013 10:22 pm ⋅

Annie Chapman is walking the length of the north island following the Te Araroa trail to raise awareness of the need for better mental-healthcare choices in NZ. She’s on a mission to take a petition to parliament seeking improved options for people using public mental health services across the country. Across April and May she’ll stop off at a range of different towns to touch base with locals and collect signatures. 

Itinerary for April and May 2013

  • Taumarunui                        5 April
  • Whanganui                         22/23 April
  • Fielding                                12th May
  • Palmerston North            14th May
  • Otaki                                     21st May
  • Paraparaumu                     24th May
  • Porirua                                 28th May

Times and venues for Community Hikoi Meetings coming soon.

If you are interested in organising a Hikoi Meeting for your group or community contact Annie Chapman’s new volunteer Hikoi coordinator, Miriam Larsen-Barr by emailing admin@engagenz.co.nz

Keep yourself in the loop at the official Facebook event.

And don’t forget to sign and share the petition!

If you’d like to know a bit more about what this Hikoi is all about, please click here to watch a short video taken of the Hikoi Meeting in Whangarei.

Posted in: Community Participation, Families/Whanau, News, Older People and Aging, Parents and Parenting, People with Disabilities, Politics and Policy, Service-User Movement, Social Change, Young People and Youth Issues ⋅ Tagged: , , , ,

Hikoi for Better Mental Healthcare Choices Departs Auckland from Aotea Square

February 20, 2013 3:00 pm ⋅

ANNIES FAREWELL FROM AUCKLAND

It’s now confirmed that Annie Chapman’s send-off from Auckland will be from Aotea Square starting at noon on Friday 22nd. All welcome!!

Annie will continue her way along the Te Araroa Trail on her Hikoi to Wellington to seek better mental healthcare choices for those who experience mental-health problems.

Sign the petition to the NZ government and make your voice count!

http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/to-the-new-zealand-government-minister-of-health-honourable-tony-ryall-provide-healthy-choices-for-people-in-mental-health-care-in-new-zealand

BEYOND AUCKLAND

  • Paeroa: 27th Feb. War Memorial Hall (supper Room) 7.00 p.m.
  • Thames: 28th Feb. (Possibly 2.30 p.m. at Te Korowai, still to be confirmed)

(Thames/Paeroa contact Beccy Dove, Enviroschools Facilitator | Ph 07 8627113, Cell 021 1448539)

Dates & Some locations from here are tentative.

  • Hamilton 7-9 March
  • Possibly Cambridge
  • Possible side trip to Rotorua
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumarunui
  • Owhango
  • Te Porere Redoubt
  • Whakapapa Village (if Tongariro Crossing remains closed)
  • National Park
  • Mangapurua Landing
  • Whanganui (via Te Awa …. awesome!!)
  • Possible side trip to New Plymouth
  • Turakina
  • Bulls
  • Fielding
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Waikanae
  • Paraparaumu
  • Porirua
  • Wellington!!…. Mid May

Stay in the loop on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/events/317503728358665/

Posted in: Community Participation, Service-User Movement ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Petition Seeks Better Mental Healthcare Options in NZ – SIGN TODAY

February 15, 2013 9:51 pm ⋅

Petition to Provide Healthy Choices for People in Mental Healthcare in New Zealand 

A petition has been created to request The Minister of Health and the New Zealand Government take measures to improve access to psycho-social, holistic treatment options, evaluate the impact of current mental healthcare and reduce reliance on medication and compulsory treatment.

http://www.change.org/petitions/to-the-new-zealand-government-minister-of-health-honourable-tony-ryall-provide-healthy-choices-for-people-in-mental-health-care-in-new-zealand

Why sign this petition? 
Because lasting recovery comes from life change and life change is not inspired by medication and restricted freedoms, it is inspired by support, psycho-social skills, cultural connections, nourishing lives and therapeutic interventions. Signing this petition will help  send a message to government and ministry that the current status of things is inadequate and needs to change.

What does the petition say? 
We, the undersigned support Annie Chapman in her cause, and hereby request
  1. An independent inquiry into the impact of current mental health treatment for people diagnosed with a mental illness, relative to:
    • Their human rights
    • Their dignity as citizens
    • Their physical health
    • The cost/benefit ratio of long-term high-dose psychiatric medication (taking into account the costs to the health system and to the individuals, of physical side-effects of high-dose medications).
2. We also request that District Health Boards are required to provide, to those diagnosed with mental illness, greater access to health-promoting psycho-social, holistic (mind/body) and culturally diverse treatment options, and aligning with options that research has proven successful here in NZ and other countries in

    • Improving long-term recovery outcomes
    • Reducing dependence on psychiatric medication
    • Reducing reliance on compulsory treatment orders
Posted in: Community Participation, Human Rights and Legal Issues, News, Politics and Policy, Psychiatric Medication, Service-User Movement, Social Change ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

Hikoi for reTHiNK of Mental-Healthcare Choices Arriving in Auckland

February 3, 2013 12:17 pm ⋅

One Woman Walking: Hikoi for a Big reTHiNK of Mental Healthcare Choices 

Annie Chapman is on a hikoi across the length of the North Island to raise awareness about the need for better mental healthcare choices to be made available to service-users in New Zealand.

“I have ceased to be surprised now by how almost everyone I talk to about why I am walking has a story to tell of friends or loved ones in need, utterly failed by the mental health system.” ~ Annie Chapman, 21 December 2012

Annie Chapman will be in Auckland from the 14th – 21st February 2013 (and in fact she may arrive a few days earlier than this).

So far the Auckland events in place are:

• Saturday morning, 16th Feb, from 10 am til 12 noon at Morra Hall, Waiheke.  Note: there has been a change of venue to allow for a more formal setting.  Instead of Ostend Market as originally planned, Annie Chapman will now be at Morra Hall, Oneroa, Waiheke
• A meeting on 15th February with colleagues of Brigitte Sistig re Yoga and Depression
• A second radio interview with “Take it from Us” (Feb 19)
• A screening/talk of Jim Marbrook’s film “Mental Notes” as a fund-raiser on the 17th of February  at Connect SR in Glenfield.

If you have any questions or suggestions of other good possible places to meet, speak or be interviewed by media, please contact Annie direct on 027 4272644 or Hikoiforhealth@gmail.com

Find out more on the official Facebook Page

Help spread the word – invite your friends to the Facebook Event

Posted in: Community Participation, Families/Whanau, Maori Communities, Older People and Aging, Parents and Parenting, Pasifika Communities, People with Disabilities, Politics and Policy, Rainbow / LGBTQI+ Community, Service-User Movement, Social Change, Suicide Prevention/Support, Trauma, Young People and Youth Issues ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Hikoi Seeks National Big reTHiNK about Mental-Health Services

December 16, 2012 1:18 pm ⋅

Media Release: 11/Dec/2012.


Annie Chapman, a former support worker for a mental-health trust in Porirua, is on a mission to reduce reliance on “medical mental healthcare” which she says can result in dependence and disempowerment, in a bid to promote healthier mental healthcare.

This summer, Chapman will spend five months walking the length of the North Island to advocate “change and choice in mental-health care“.

Annie Chapman’s One Woman Walking: Hikoi for a Big reTHiNK of Mental Healthcare Choices begins in Cape Reinga on December 12th and finishes five months later in Wellington. From December to May Annie will be stopping at towns along the Te Araroa Trail for community meetings to screen short stigma-busting films, discuss what a truly empowering mental-health system would look like and support the Petition for Better Mental-Healthcare Choices, which Annie will present at The Beehive in Wellington in May. Donations to cover costs are gratefully received. Any additional funds raised will be donated to Hearing Voices Network Aotearoa NZ, which provides information and support for people who experience voice hearing.

“I have witnessed life long dependence, drug withdrawal problems and the limited effectiveness of some psychiatric medications,” Ms Chapman says. “Research suggests positive and empowering alternatives exist for better long term outcomes,” she continues.

Chapman advocates a reduced systemic reliance on medications as the first-line treatment for mental-health problems. Ms Chapman wants to see funded access to psycho-social interventions and treatment options for people with mental-health problems to reduce long-term dependence on pharmaceutical interventions and compulsory models of treatment. “We need personal advocacy and psychotherapeutic help promoted and more tailored advice about diet and exercise provided,” says Chapman, “Walking can be one of the most effective anti-depressants there is,” she adds.

Miriam Larsen-Barr, from the Like Minds team at Mind and Body Consultants who coordinate the ongoing Like Minds Big reTHiNK Festival, comments, “We are proud to include One Woman Walking as part of the official Big reTHiNK calendar of events. The message that people with mental-health problems need whole-person approaches to empower their recovery is an important one.”

“It is time our society did some serious analysis. Let’s use our legendary Kiwi kindness and ingenuity to create mental-health services that offer hope of real recovery,” comments Chapman.

Find out when One Woman Walking is visiting a town near you

www.rethink.org.nz/?page_id=1692

> KAITAIA KICK OFF MEETING
>>>Wednesday 20th December
>>>11am to 1pm
>>>at Te Ahu Community Centre

www.facebook.com/events/317503728358665/

For more information contact: Annie Chapman | 0221739954 | anniechapman@actrix.co.nz

One Woman Walking Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hikoi-for-healthy-choices-in-Mental-Health/150792058391076?ref=ts

One Woman Walking Blog:
http://hikoiforhealthychoices.wordpress.com/

Follow this link to find out more about The Hearing Voices Network Aotearoa NZ  www.hearingvoices.org.nz 

Posted in: Community Participation, Families/Whanau, Human Rights and Legal Issues, News, Older People and Aging, Parents and Parenting, People with Disabilities, Social Change, Young People and Youth Issues ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , ,