MONTHS of hard work from the team at The Land, the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program (RAMHP), and the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health comes to fruition today with the official launch of the fifth edition of the Glove Box Guide to Mental Health.
The guide will be launched at Orange City Library at 10.30am by people with a lived experience of mental ill health and Calare MP Andrew Gee. Mental Health Minister Pru Goward and The Land editor Andrew Norris will give a video address.
The theme of the guide this year is #service your mind.
The bumper 64-page edition is filled with stories of people who have lived with mental illness. They share their tips for staying mentally healthy.
The guide has a heap of good information on where and how to get help, and showcases positive initiatives taking place across the state.
An important tool to support positive mental health is Books on Prescription, which is being rolled out across libraries in the Central West.
“The books on the list have all been vetted and recommended by a health professional so we know the information is accurate and useful,” said Orange technical services librarian Rosalind Dorsman.
RAMHP co-ordinators are teaching library staff to promote the collection and recognise ways people might present at a library with a mental illness and ask for help.
Friday Forum
To coincide with the launch of the guide, The Land and RAMHP are hosting the Friday Forum tomorrow, October 7, at noon.
It will focus on how to stay mentally healthy when transitioning back to the land or into a new community.
The expert panellists – CRRMH’s Victoria Smyth; Regional Pitchfest, Agrihack and Bush Angels founder Dianna Somerville; RAMHP co-ordinator Camilla Kenny, and DPI Building Resilience Team leader Pip Job – will have an engaging discussion on:
- Personal experiences of transitioning back to the land
- Examples of communities that successfully welcome and support new members
- Ideas on how to improve and continue social connectivity, and support people transitioning back to the land.
The panel will be ready to answer your questions on how to stay mentally healthy and strategies to enhance resilience; how to build supportive social networks, and ways of driving innovation and opportunities in rural and regional communities.
- Visit www.theland.com.au on Friday, October 7, at noon.
- To RSVP to the launch, email Jocie Johnston at crrmh@newcastle.edu.au or contact 6363 8444.
