Mental wellness workshops for South Colchester residents

STEWIACKE — Wanting to bring mental health and wellness education to rural communities is a goal of five workshops in South Colchester over the next few months.

Being conducted by the South Colchester Community Health Board (CHB), in conjunction with Colchester Adult Learning Association (CALA) and the Colchestereast Hants Public Library, the first two workshops are being held virtually this month while the final three take place on location in Stewiacke and Brookfield.

With the goal of serving South Colchester residents first, a priority with attendance for the three on-site workshops will be given to residents of South Colchester communities, with a waiting list created to accommodate anyone from outside the region if capacity isn’t met.

Denise Vanwychen, coordinator with the South Colchester CHB, said their volunteer board looked at priorities for the region and wanted to put on the workshops last year, but COVID prevented any from being held in person.

“Some of them just need to be in-person,” she said. “They’re hard to do online.”

The first workshop takes place March 10 from noon to 1 p.m. via Zoom. It’s titled Introduction to the Healthy Aging Workshop. The second, March 25, is also noon to 1 p.m. Zoom workshop and is titled Mental Health in the Workplace.

The first in-person workshop takes place April 12 at the Brookfield Fire Hall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s titled Introduction to Money Matters in the Digital World and is being led by CALA.

CALA executive director Mary Teed said they’ll be using the ABC Literacy’s Money Matters curriculum.

“To introduce basic and online banking, password management and theft and financial abuse,” Teed said. “This one-day workshop is an introduction to the topics; CALA offers more extensive programming in these areas and will be available for referrals after this collaborative exercise.”

Teed said they were pleased to be approached by Vanwychen.

“CALA welcomed the call from (South Colchester CHB) and other community partners to develop and deliver comprehensive programs that truly respond to community needs,” Teed said.

The final two workshops will be held at the Stewiacke Community Centre and are spread over multiple days.

May 13 and 14, Mental Health First Aid will take place. The first day, a Friday, the workshop goes from 4 to 9 p.m. while the following day it starts at 9 a.m. and goes to 4 p.m.

There is a cost to residents for the workshop — $165 for what is normally a $400 course. South Colchester CHB stated that if cost is still an issue for someone, they can contact them and ask about a possible bursary.

The final workshop takes place from June 6 to 8 —

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day. It’s titled Healthy Aging – Wellness Recovery Action Planning.

Vanwychen talked about the variety of topics being covered by the workshops.

“We wanted to offer something everyone might have a chance to use,” she said. “Not everyone will be interested in the mental health first aid because that is a pretty heavy course, but mental health in the workplace could be important to them.

“And the ‘money matters’ one, that is around something where a lot of people feel stress. So it’s just about trying to offer things along the whole spectrum of need, so different people feel there is one they can take in ... benefit from.”

To register for any of the five, contact South Colchester Chb/vanwychen at denise. vanwychen@nshealth.ca or call 902-891-0372.