Like Minds, Like Mine National Provider Seminar,
Waipuna Lodge, Auckland
Friday 13 March 2009; 1pm
Hon Tariana Turia, Associate Minister of Health

I want to acknowledge the kaumatua who welcomed us here today; the Mental Health Foundation for extending the invitation; and our facilitator, Tuiloma Lina Samu for holding it all together.

I was pleased to come here today, to Waipuna Lodge, and in my mind to make an immediate connection to home.

Te Waipuna Health Centre, is our primary medical service for Te Oranganui Iwi Health Authority based in Whanganui.

It is driven by the aim of seeking to improve the overall wellbeing of whanau, hapu and iwi – and by doing so in a way which empowers all who work in their doors, to take responsibility for their health and wellbeing.

And so, in coming here today, to the Like Minds, Like Mine national provider seminar I am immediately making a connection – a connection to home, to the aspirations of self-determination, to the value of holistic health.

These types of connections, the intellectual, emotional and psychological links we make, are a fundamental tenet of the Like Minds programmes.

Like minds is all about us. It’s about whanau, friends, neighbours, and workmates. It is about real people, everyday circumstances, as ABBA would say, ‘Knowing me, Knowing you’.

It’s about inclusion not exclusion.

One of the TV ads that stands out for me is the one which features Aubrey, who had experience of bipolar disorder, and the significant people in his life, including his former employer, Dame Susan Devoy.

In the ads, Dame Susan describes how the disclosure by Aubrey of his mental illness was sometimes a real conversation stopper. People suddenly have an immediate reaction to that person – they don’t take them for who they are, they suddenly think about what they are.

But for Dame Susan, quite the opposite occurred. She described the impact of Aubrey in her organisation in really positive ways – recalling how his insights and challenges about mental health taught them all the time about tolerance, about patience and empathy and support – and about looking after people.

It’s not what they are that’s important, it’s what you do that makes the difference.

And in thinking about what YOU do, I want to say, here and now, it has made the difference.

The television advertisements have been tremendously successful – they have brought the experience of mental illness into our lives through the connection on the small screen with real people, with celebrities, with leaders.

And then you, at the frontline, have taken it out to your communities – shared the personal experiences and stories of recovery with people who may have previously thought that mental health was not part of their business; was something that other families, other workplaces had to worry about, but not them.

Like Minds has blown that myth and instead gently, slowly, but surely, encouraged the communities to own it – to own our health and wellbeing, to take seriously the collective responsibility to care.

And I want today, to really thank you all, to congratulate you, and to honour you for your courage, your commitment, your hard work and your passion.

Each of you are catalysts for change in your communities.

Like the late and much loved Mahinaarangi Tocker, you have lifted your head up above the stigma and discrimination. You have taken on the mantle of championship; the responsibility of leadership in creating the reason for us all to ‘rethink’ mental illness.

You have done distinctive work within your own communities, but you are also part of a bigger community, a collective of people who care.

And so, while this event is important in show-casing initiatives such as the new website; or the new community radio show in the Waikato; perhaps its greatest value is in sharing together, the strategies for success which you know will result in the full social, cultural and economic participation of tangata whaiora.

I believe the incentive to work collaboratively and collectively is urgent, as we face the challenge of limited resources in a context of economic restraint. We know already that the effects of the global economic downturn will be seen immediately across our communities, through the presentation of increased levels of stress and distress.

This is all the more reason to lift our commitment towards challenging the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness.

It is all the more reason to be clear that we are actually making a difference, that we can measure our progress, that we have real and tangible outcomes that show us just how much impact Like Minds has made.

I was shocked at a recent hui, to hear a mental health provider express their concerns that they believed there was no real pressure placed upon their organisation to declare the results of their activities – the interest was all focused on output measures such as numbers of people seen, number of visits made.

We must believe that what we are doing is effective.

We need to know, have tangata whaiora noticed that their experience of discrimination has lessened over the years.

Does the data we collect demonstrate that attitudes are changing?

Where is Like Minds having the greatest impact? Is it making a difference for tangata whenua, for Pasifika peoples, for youth? What does the Vibe network tell us about whether the messages are still fresh, relevant, innovative?

I am here – just as you are – because we want to make a difference.

We want to know that what we are doing promotes whanau ora, recovery and inclusion. We want to know that the strategies we promote, the way we walk the talk, is actually reducing discrimination.

We want to know that the “outcast mentality” that Judge Ken Mason talked about in 1996 is not part of the 2009 discourse.

And so that is why having an eye for outcomes is so important.

Just as the tv ads model appropriate, supportive and non-discriminatory behaviours, we have to be vigilant in examining our attitudes and behaviours in every context of our lives.

The like minds project is driven by the calling to eliminate the potential to discriminate - whakaitia te whakawhiu i te tangata.

It is the strength to acknowledge the capacity and the competence of tangata whaiora to run their own lives.

It is seen in the willingness to recognise the intensity of the struggle in dealing with a mental illness, and the commitment to take the challenges seriously.

It will be expressed in whanau who invest in aspirations, who demonstrate respect and compassion for one another.

You have much to be proud of – let us celebrate together, acknowledge the achievements, and then resolve to go forward, together, to create communities where all people feel valued, their differences respected, and their needs met.

I know we can do it.

ENDS

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