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PJ TAYLOR talks with one of New Zealand’s most experienced healthcare practitioners living in Pukekohe and working at the forefront of mental health issues in Franklin and east Auckland.
Where were you born and grew up?
I began my journey from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Melbourne, Australia, where I joined the world. We then returned to Amsterdam. A few years later, my parents, being seasoned travellers, decided for us to begin a new life in New Zealand, as my mother’s brother had already established roots here. We arrived after a six-week boat journey in the late 1960s. I was a teenager then with no comprehension of English, and that made transitioning to new school environments challenging.
What schooling did you receive, and how as your tertiary education path?
I attended intermediate school in Manurewa, then a short time at Manurewa High School, before spending my senior years at Rosehill College, Papakura. I left college after completing School Certificate. I first worked as an NZ Post linesman and Papakura YMCA fitness and gymnastics instructor.
Why did you decide on a career in healthcare, and how did you enter that arena?
I felt I needed a more fulfilling role for my future career ambitions as during this time I was also raising a young family. For some years I worked full-time and held down three additional part-time roles. I was encouraged and eventually applied and accepted into hospital-based training to be a NZ registered psychiatric nurse (NZRPN), completing my qualification training in 1981. Several years later, I attended the University of Auckland to complete post-graduate diploma studies to further embed my career.
What has been your career journey in healthcare?
I worked for many years across many mental health environments – institutional based, rehabilitation, acutes, youth, and forensic settings, where for some years I worked as a senior recreational officer encompassing my nursing skills with my sporting and fitness experiences. For two years I did some valuable locum work as an NZRPN based in England. I’ve always and remain an active sports enthusiast having represented Papakura and south Auckland in basketball. I play senior cricket at club level, represent Northern Districts, and have had the honour of representing New Zealand. Sport has always and will remain my biggest outlet from my passion of the work I feel honoured to do.
What is your job at East Health Trust?
My role, and I must mention it’s a privilege to be working in the forefront of primary care, is East Health Trust’s mental health and addiction coordinator. The primary mental health service I manage is for those individuals who experience mild to moderate mental health and addiction issues. I provide consultation, advice and training for our primary care health professionals, with strong liaison with Mental Health and Addiction Services, being local, regional, national or international.
What’s involved in your role?
A core portfolio I manage is the Te Whatu Ora Counties Manukau wellness programme, originated in 2011. It’s only currently available to patients enrolled into a Counties Manukau GP practice. All East Health GP practices are aligned to the wellness programme. It was established with a working governance team comprising psychiatrists, psychologists, GPs, nurse representatives, peer support, and public health organisation (PHO) representation including myself.
When initial assessments are completed by the GP or nurse and it’s indicated that mental health is the leading cause of the presenting concern to the individual then future GP clinic appointments are at no cost to the individual with no age barrier. Then, if during future consultations with the patient and those brief interventions that have been attempted at the practice setting need more in-depth intervention particularly if mild to moderate depression and anxiety symptoms are present.
The programme allows for the model of cognitive behavioural therapy. Therapeutic intervention support is a structured, goal-orientated talk therapy that teaches you to identify unhelpful thinking patterns, offering six free individual sessions with our dedicated psychology counselling providers. Referrals to this part of the programme are triaged by me, ensuring our criteria are met and a suitable provider is assigned, with gender, culture and age-related experience.
The wellness programme is available through all the PHOs affiliated to Te Whatu Ora Counties Manukau District. I feel the programme has had a positive impact over the years for those individuals presenting with mental health and addiction and its complexities. The programme is being independently evaluated, and I remain hopeful of its continuance. It needs to remain accessible to all for years to come to enable reducing the barriers to accessing primary health services.
Have you been involved in training of mental health workers?
I’ve proudly been associated with the implementation since 2012 of the Auckland collaborative primary care nursing mental health credentialing programme. This certificated initiative gives the primary care nursing workforce the opportunity to upskill their mental health and addiction awareness, assessment skills, and resourcing, with a more positive alignment to an early intervention process in a general practice setting. It allows for these newly developed acquired skills to best support individuals during their troubling times. I remain a member of the governance team as a lecturer and supervisor.
What else do you do at East Health Trust?
Another core portfolio function I have is the leadership coordination of our dedicated health improvement, practitioner, health coach teams – the integrated primary mental health and addiction service programme. It provides a suite of services that expands the general practice team to include mental health capability and increasing access for patients to self-management support. They respond to patients’ well-being, concerns or distress by increasing timely access to this service. There are no criteria to access for the individual.
A further key function I have with East Health Trust is being the voice of mental health in our respective community settings, attending local community events, and being part of the coordination team for our East Health community well-being expos, and being guest speaker at various community settings for mental health-related discussions.
Mental health in New Zealand is a much talked about subject. What are some of the areas of concern for you?
Mental health is something we all have and we need to look after it. “There is no health without mental health.’’ We all have mental well-being – it’s a taonga treasure and we need to look after it. The Five Ways to Well-being are simple, proven actions we can all take to help us find balance and feel our best. When our mental well-being is good, we’re able to cope with life’s ups and downs. We feel happier, more confident and secure, and can help others too.
Are there things we collectively as communities can be doing to help improve the state of mental health?
Introduce the Five Ways to Well-being into your life and feel the benefits they can bring. See online at www.mentalhealth.org.nz/wellbeing for more ideas and inspiration. The Five Ways to Well-being are: Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning, Give. We need to continue positive healthy conversations in all homes, communities, workplaces, and sports settings to encourage less prejudice and discrimination.
Generally, school environments are ideally placed to have a pivotal role in this, where we need to encourage more relevant age-related baseline mental health discussions, building on personal resilience, problem solving, and dealing with day-to-day emotions and stress-related situations.
Have you an end-of-interview message to the community?
If someone is feeling wobbly at the top of a cliff, it’s the primary health sector which has the professional dedication and skill to apply early mental health intervention processes. Do not wait for someone to topple over and be picked up from the bottom.
East Health Trust’s dedicated teams comprising of general practitioners, nurses, management, administration, health improvement practitioners and coaches, and PHO personnel are well positioned to assess, support, resource, and co-ordinate appropriate suitable well-being care ensuring an individual remains at the top of the cliff. If you, a family member or friend needs support consider the mentioned programmes on offer. Don’t hesitate to contact your GP practice ensuring timely care is co-ordinated.
East Health Trust has clinics across Franklin and east Auckland.
First-step access to mental health services
- Health New Zealand’s free call or text helpline 1737 is available around the clock for support from a trained counsellor
- Youthline is on free phone 0800 361 416
- Lifeline is on 0800 543 354
- Mental Health Crisis Team is on 0800 800 717
- Asian Family Services is on 0800 862 342
- Suicide Crisis Helpline is on 0508 828 865
