Authors: Carol Ryan, Brigid Furness, Sarb Lester, Julie Walker
Year: 2016
Event: 2016 TheMHS Conference
Subject: Raeburn House Auckland new zealand, innovation, quality, social justice, social inclusion, wellbeing, values and attitudes, The Five Ways to Wellbeing
Type of resource: TheMHS Awards
Abstract: An Inclusive Approach to Wellbeing: the Authentic Heart of Community
The Scallop Principle (the scallop’s eye is around its whole periphery):
“Each one of us is an Eye (I) the whole discerns through us. The corollary – when we don’t hear from the Eye (I) the whole is at risk. Which means that the community is at risk when any one piece is not seen (or heard).”
Collective Wisdom by John Ott
This presentation unpacks and examines the synergistic link between individual mental wellbeing and sustainable community development outcomes for diverse populations. Drawing on over 30 years of community-led experience in the socio-economic and ethnically diverse region of Auckland North, the CE of Raeburn House will outline how the application of the Five Ways to Wellbeing inform service delivery, enhance community engagement processes and generates measurable wellbeing outcomes for individuals, families and the wider community alike.
The Five Ways to Wellbeing are simple, evidenced-based actions that have been shown to improve mental wellbeing outcomes for individuals from across the diversity spectrum. Raeburn House takes these micro principles further by applying the actions across all community development processes at both a service delivery level and a strategic level, resulting in an authentic and inclusive model of wellbeing in which all people can contribute to and participate in.
The broad application of the Five Ways at a community level contributes towards shifting the public perception of mental health from a stigmatic ‘illness’ paradigm to a more inclusive, wellbeing focus where mental health is viewed as a shared community responsibility in which all people can play a part. The Five Ways provide participatory actions for individuals and communities in which they can see themselves in their own solutions, a critical factor in the sustainability of mental wellbeing outcomes. Research clearly shows that communities who are facilitated to take action in addressing identified personal, family or community issues are much more likely to achieve sustainable outcomes than those who have solutions imposed on them.
An inclusive approach to wellbeing recognises that authentic engagement is at the heart of community positive community development and that all people and sectors have a role to play in achieving wellness across populations. Naturally this includes mental health services and agencies dedicated to improving the day-to-day lives of those affected by mental illness, but sustainable and enduring outcomes require contributions from all sectors of community including ethnic specific groups, the business world, not-for-profit and community organisations, local and national government agencies, the education and health sectors, and engaged citizens leading grassroots initiatives. This presentation will outline the powerful outcomes that can be achieves when a mental wellbeing is mandated to sit at the heart of all community development processes.
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