Mental health kit for schools

A new mental health awareness kit is being piloted in Bay of Plenty secondary schools.

It is the first comprehensive New Zealand-based package developed for schools and deals with issues such as bullying, suicide, discrimination, mental health problems, change, loss and grief.

The programme will also help schools to promote positive mental health.

Created by the Mental Health Foundation, "Mindful Schools" is being tested in partnership with Toi Te Ora Public Health in the Tauranga and Rotorua areas.

A needs assessment carried out in 2003 in the Bay of Plenty, Lakes, Waikato and Taranaki District Health Board areas showed a lot of schools were interested in getting more information about mental health, said promoter JoSmith.

The new kit contained curriculum material, up-to-date information on key issues schools faced, and a variety of resources such as video, catalogues, posters, fact sheets and relevant community contacts.

She said there was a mixture of materials for use across the school, from counselling to health and physical education depart-ments.

"We hope it is a great catalyst for schools to look at how they not just teach mental health but how they promote it both for students and staff," said Ms Smith.

The project would be evaluated later this year to see whether the kit should be used throughout New Zealand.

At the end of this month, other interested schools would be able to download core kit information from the Mental Health Foundation website.