Karina Te Hira's life began to change the moment she realised she was out of her depth.
For 26 years the 47-year-old resident of the small Wairarapa township of Greytown had been comfortable in her IT job with the New Zealand Defence Force.
But a year ago, after leaving to devote more time to pastoral care work with the Assembly of God Church in nearby Featherston, she knew she needed something more if she was to be successful in helping others.
"There are so many mental health issues in our community," she says. "People are suffering from anxiety, depression, substance abuse, historical trauma, these things are everywhere.
"But I soon realised I didn't understand mental health. I was out of my depth and I needed to do something to help me in my work supporting these people."
So Te Hira enrolled to study for a Level 5 Certificate in Mental Health and Addiction, one of two new qualifications launched this year by Massey University (the other is a three-year Bachelor of Health Sciences majoring in Mental Health and Addiction).
The qualifications, designed in response to the 2018 He Ara Oranga report of the government inquiry into mental health and addiction, aim to assist the professional development of mental health and addiction support workers like Te Hira who operate on the frontline.
New Zealand is grappling with alarming rates of suicide and addiction. The report found 50 to 80 per cent of New Zealanders will experience mental distress or addiction challenges in their lifetime and estimated the annual cost of meeting the burden of serious mental illness at about $12 billion.
In 2015, according to the report, 525 people died by suicide and every year 20,000 people attempt to take their lives.
The Massey qualifications were launched in the face of these statistics. Dr Andy Towers, associate professor at the university's School of Health Sciences, says support workers play a vital role: "With the significant mental health and addiction issues identified in He Ara Oranga, we need a hell of a lot more of them; support workers are the backbone of our system."
Te Hira is studying online on a part time basis and is one of 43 students at the Certificate level (49 are enrolled in the Bachelor's qualification) and says she originally decided to take the course to arm herself with knowledge to more effectively help with her pastoral work.
"I had a negative stigma about mental health," she says. "But (as a result of the course) I've become less judgmental, more willing to listen to people and more aware of the support services and organisations people can go to for help.
"I'm not there to tell them what to do, but to support their own decision-making. I haven't regretted doing the course and one of the benefits of learning at distance is the flexibility I have time-wise (she devotes about 10 hours a week to study)."
Meanwhile, Towers says support workers, who represent more than 30 per cent of the mental health and addiction workforce, operate at the community and primary healthcare coalface. "They are the people who do a lot of the groundwork and carry out a broad range of tasks.
"They can be the person who drives you to the doctor or social worker, someone to talk to, help get groceries or plan finances," he says. "Support workers are often the people closest to those seeking well-being (tangata whai ora) and their job is extraordinarily difficult. They offer a lot of blood, sweat and tears; they do a lot of the grunt work, it's a tough role but can be amazingly rewarding."
Towers says while some qualifications for support workers were previously available, they were mainly Level 4 Certificates and didn't support progression to university or leadership.
"Our new (NZQA) Level 5 Certificate offers support workers a new pathway that allows them – if they want – to step straight into a tailor-made Bachelor's degree emphasizing their role as advocates and leaders.
"Because we're leaders in online education at Massey, we have the skills, the knowledge and the team to help with t
heir education and upskilling without them having to quit their jobs or leave the comfort of their home."
He says the certificate consists of four courses which are taught by a cross-disciplinary team from the School of Health Sciences, Te Pūtahi-a-Toi (the School of Māori Knowledge) and the School of Social Work.
The courses focus on skills and knowledge the Mental Health and Addiction sector want to see in graduates and include knowledge about Aotearoa New Zealand approaches to the issues, skills for engaging with Māori communities, public health principles and approaches and the helping skills required to develop an effective relationship with others.
Students studying for the three-year major qualification have 24 courses. Among the skills they develop are those designed to enable them to facilitate, lead and advise in order to solve complex challenges, to focus on the health potential of people, to promote flourishing whānau and reduce inequities.
"We are committed to making a difference to the mental health and wellbeing of all New Zealanders and the best way we can do this is by preparing a workforce for the future," Towers says. "Leadership for this growing and evolving workforce is needed and we have worked closely with the sector to make sure the new programmes are relevant and exciting."
To find out more go to: massey.ac.nz/study-mha