THE third edition of the popular Glove Box Guide to Mental Health received positive appraisal today when it was launched to an audience of health professionals.
NSW Farmers president Fiona Simson officially launched the guide, along with the executive manager of programs and services for the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health, Trevor Hazell, at NSW Farmers' head office.
The guide is a partnership between the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program and The Land and helps break down one the biggest barriers to understanding mental health, which is people's attitudes towards the issue.
The latest research from the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health says that while rural and remote Australian faces a range of barriers to mental health care, attitudinal barriers are the most significant.
The Glove Box Guide is helping change attitudes by breaking down the sense of isolation, individuals and communities can experience when they are faced with challenging circumstances by providing people with ways they can start a conversation with people they care about or are worried about.
Ms Simson said the issue of isolation in particular was raised by the NSW Rural Mental Health Network, which noted the importance of the right type of help being available in the right geographical location as well as at the right time.
"This is part of the reason why NSW Farmers is calling on the government to reinstate maps highlighting drought affected areas," she said.
"These maps would help agencies who have been funded to provide services as a result of the drought to effectively allocate their resources to the areas most in need."
This year, about 50,000 copies of the guide are expected to reach more than 135,000 readers across rural and remote NSW and beyond.
"I would like to congratulate the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health and The Land on keeping the conversation about community wellbeing and mental health alive in our rural and remote communities,' Ms Simson said.
