Community Activities to Improve Mental Health
Do you have a desire to do something to improve the mental health of your community?
I am always inspired by people with good ideas who manage to get them up and running, especially when the ideas impact on health and well being.
I met a guy recently in a country town in Victoria who’d lost a tradie mate to suicide. In the aftermath he realised that many of his mates were pretty isolated, especially when it came to discussing what was meaningful in their lives. To get a bit of conversation happening, he started barbeque breakfasts for tradies in the car park of his local hardware a store and the idea took off. It’s been good for him and good for his mates. Maybe it’s even saved some lives. It has certainly set a good example to the community.
Then there’s the Men’s Shed movement which started as a formal not-for-profit organisation in Australia in 2007, but had grown out of an earlier very informal idea to provide men with an opportunity to get together over a project or two, use their skills and reduce their social isolation. As we know, social isolation is one of the most important factors in maintaining depression and promoting suicidality.
And what about Dale Skinner, Black Dog Institute volunteer and fundraiser, who has a lived experience of bipolar disorder? Dale has helped set up a community group in Albury-Wodonga called Moodswingers (great name isn’t it!), providing education and support for people with bipolar disorder and their families. I went to their first Community Forum a couple of months ago and heard first hand from some of the over 100 people there about the value the group has for them.
On crowdfunding websites like Start Some Good, you’ll find people with all sorts of projects, some entrepreneurial, some charitable, that might spark some ideas for you about the good you can do in your community.
October is Mental Health Month and it’s not as far away as you think! The NSW Mental Health Association is providing advice and grants to people with good ideas for events and activities in their community during October. Here’s a link to the information about it if you are keen. And don’t forget, even if you are devoid of ideas and exhausted from your day job, one of your patients may well be waiting for an opportunity like this to get an idea off the ground that they’ve been nursing for a while. Do let them know about the grants.
Maybe you’d like to print out this Starter Kit for waiting room reference? That could be your personal contribution to the cause!
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