Employment for good mental health

International and National Trends

Below are the first links and content of a recent symposium held in Wellington that brought together clinicians, employment practitioners, policy makers and funders all of whom had an interest in the signifcant role that employment takes in mental well being. We will continue to build on this collection of material.

A New Zealand overview of supported employment in the mental health environment from two leading supported employment advocates and opinion leaders:

Rob Warriner CEO of Walsh Trust www.walsh.org.nz - presentation

Warren Elwin CEO of Workwise Employment Agency www.workwise.org.nz

The critical role of clinical leadership:

Helen Lockett, an international leader in this area, shared her experience and the research from the UK Centre for Mental Health, Centres of Excellence, national implementation programme. Helen also offered her observations on how some recent developments in New Zealand can support clinical leadership. Uploaded Presentation.

Feedback from the recent world psychiatry conference:

For the first time the 2011 World Psychiatry Congress had a keynote presentation on evidence-based supported employment from psychiatrist Professor Bob Drake, Dartmouth College, USA. Other workshops and discussion forums from leading international experts in the field of supported employment and recovery were also reported. Highlights of this material were presented. http://www.tepou.co.nz/improving-services/ebse

The role of mental health professionals in supporting employment

The New Zealand health environment is changing, the effects of the economic recession, an ageing workforce and the pervasive influence of mental health and addiction problems on society was discussed. Brenda Wraight, Director, Health Workforce New Zealand talked about the work programme of Health Workforce NZ that has been undertaken to build a resiliant and cohesive mental heatlh and addictions workforce system. Uploaded Presentation.

The role of Regional Trainer in the South of England

This presentation was given 'virtually' with Rebecca slides pre-recorded.  Rebecca Priest trained as an OT and has been a key part of establishing a successful Evidence Based Supported Employment programme within her clinical team. The Centre for Mental Health in the UK is piloting the role of the regional trainer to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of evidence-based supported employment services. This role is modelled from the highly successful State Trainer role in the Johnson and Johnson implementation programme run by Dartmouth Medical School, US.

New Zealand clinicians who are supporting employment: Staff from Capital & Coast DHB clinical team and the employment worker, who work alongside each other, spoke about the work they do and the impact it has on people they support, their own practice and others they engage with. They told the powerful stories of change and learning about supporting consumers into employment. 

Please note: If you wish to see this prezi in fullscreen hit the 'more' button that's below the prezi window.   Presentation link. 

Download Notes from the Symposium

Employment Support as a Mental Health Intervention - Auckland

You are invited to register for this forum that will be held at the Ko Awatea Centre for Education & Innovation (Building 54 Middlemore Hospital) Otahuhu Auckland on 09 March 2012.