Mana-enhancing approach to mental health
A Palmerston North company is helping people and businesses to feel comfortable dealing with mental health and wellbeing issues.
BE360, which is run by Pele Aumua, offers “mental health first aid” courses, providing people with tips and skills about how to discuss wellbeing.
The company is running a free mental health fitness workshop, in partnership with Whakapai Hauora, at He Puna Pūkenga o Te Papaioea on The Square in Palmerston North tomorrow. The workshop is for small-to-medium businesses in the construction and trade sectors.
Aumua wanted to teach business owners how to support themselves and their staff.
While attitudes towards mental health were changing, Aumua said there was still work to be done, as it was surrounded by negative connotations.
“We ask in our workshops what do the public think. [They say] crazy, psychotic, homeless, that’s how it's framed.
“But it’s understanding the reasons why people’s mental health has been affected by so many different factors, and giving people an understanding of how you can approach it in a mana-enhancing way.
“That's what we try to do. We set aside judgment and get people to understand the signs and symptoms of mental health illnesses.”
While he had been through his own mental health journey, Aumua said wellbeing looked different for everyone.
The key ideas included being connected, being happy, being involved with community, and being functional through things such as exercise and diet.
Aumua said general mental health statistics were alarming and the construction industry had a high rate of suicide.
He said they wanted to give people the tools to be able to discuss mental health and understand the signs and symptoms, so if someone was going through distress there could be “early intervention and prevention”.
“It’s a guiding source. It’s not about trying to fix the problem. We’re not equipped with the skills. But we can have a conversation that can be uplifting, or provide a connection to professional help.”
They provided information for support services across the country.
The free workshop tomorrow was about solving some of the problems people in the construction and trade sector faced.
“I wanted to do something out of good will, to make sure we can support them in some way. The challenges they’re facing, work is slowing down after the boom, rising costs, labour shortages.”
He had worked with various companies and he said there were common themes.