Support CarePacks
A cool team at Taranaki Retreat hand-make (each one with great care and aroha) and provide CarePacks in collaboration with Taranaki DHB:
The CarePack plan was launched on World Suicide Prevention Day, 2020.
When a person leaves hospital and heads home back to “normality” they are fragile and still extremely unwell. They need to know they are wanted and loved and cared about – they are important; they aren’t nobodies,” says Di
Jamie says, “It’s hard to imagine being more vulnerable than leaving hospital and going back out into the world. You are such a high risk at that point. What Di is doing here is a really cool piece of suicide prevention. It shows others have walked this path – and therefore, we are not alone,” he says.
When people overcome with suicidal thoughts are in ED waiting for the ABC (crisis team), or a patient is awaiting paperwork to be discharged, even an hour can feel interminable.
“It’s a long wait while you are there in considerable distress. We want to make sure that anybody who arrives that we don’t think of this as a non-event,” he says. “If they have reached that point in life, that’s not situation normal – it’s really, really serious. The pack will provide some distraction to look through, to play with and help calm your mind and some tips to do at that point. The packs will also contain crucial contact information and guidance for the recipient and their whānau,” Jamie says. “Actions speak louder than words. Those acts must never stigmatise or diminish a person – this just makes you feel even worse; always express kindness and compassion.”
“They don’t have to think – it’s all there,” says Di, who leads a team putting the packs together at Taranaki Retreat.
The idea of the packs have been received with warmth from within the community – the contents are being sponsored by Ozone Coffee, Joe's Garage, Taranaki Retreat, a local clinical psychologist, Harcourts Team Taranaki, the Taranaki Suicide Prevention Group and, “most powerfully, some of those who have, themselves, received support through the Taranaki Retreat”
The care-pack initiative is also welcomed by the Taranaki District Health Board. “I think that suicide prevention and suicide awareness is a community issue and it’s something that needs to be tackled by the community,” says Sarah Gillington, consumer advisor for the Mental Health and Addiction Service. “Having a pack made by someone who’s walked that journey can give people hope – ‘you know you can get through this’.”
We'd love your donation to help us with this beautiful project. Please head here; and make sure you narrate your donation, "CarePacks" - and, on behalf of those who will receive and open those physical expressions of aroha and compassion - THANK YOU.
This story was written by the awesome Virginia Winder, and first appeared in the Taranaki Daily News; photo: Andy Jackson (Stuff)
A cool team at Taranaki Retreat hand-make (each one with great care and aroha) and provide CarePacks in collaboration with Taranaki DHB:
- The While You’re Waiting pack for those distressed people in ED awaiting the ABC (crisis) team;
- The Heading Home Pack for those who have been admitted into hospital because of self-harm or a suicide attempt;
- The Reminder Pack, for those who have walked this path before.
The CarePack plan was launched on World Suicide Prevention Day, 2020.
When a person leaves hospital and heads home back to “normality” they are fragile and still extremely unwell. They need to know they are wanted and loved and cared about – they are important; they aren’t nobodies,” says Di
Jamie says, “It’s hard to imagine being more vulnerable than leaving hospital and going back out into the world. You are such a high risk at that point. What Di is doing here is a really cool piece of suicide prevention. It shows others have walked this path – and therefore, we are not alone,” he says.
When people overcome with suicidal thoughts are in ED waiting for the ABC (crisis team), or a patient is awaiting paperwork to be discharged, even an hour can feel interminable.
“It’s a long wait while you are there in considerable distress. We want to make sure that anybody who arrives that we don’t think of this as a non-event,” he says. “If they have reached that point in life, that’s not situation normal – it’s really, really serious. The pack will provide some distraction to look through, to play with and help calm your mind and some tips to do at that point. The packs will also contain crucial contact information and guidance for the recipient and their whānau,” Jamie says. “Actions speak louder than words. Those acts must never stigmatise or diminish a person – this just makes you feel even worse; always express kindness and compassion.”
“They don’t have to think – it’s all there,” says Di, who leads a team putting the packs together at Taranaki Retreat.
The idea of the packs have been received with warmth from within the community – the contents are being sponsored by Ozone Coffee, Joe's Garage, Taranaki Retreat, a local clinical psychologist, Harcourts Team Taranaki, the Taranaki Suicide Prevention Group and, “most powerfully, some of those who have, themselves, received support through the Taranaki Retreat”
The care-pack initiative is also welcomed by the Taranaki District Health Board. “I think that suicide prevention and suicide awareness is a community issue and it’s something that needs to be tackled by the community,” says Sarah Gillington, consumer advisor for the Mental Health and Addiction Service. “Having a pack made by someone who’s walked that journey can give people hope – ‘you know you can get through this’.”
We'd love your donation to help us with this beautiful project. Please head here; and make sure you narrate your donation, "CarePacks" - and, on behalf of those who will receive and open those physical expressions of aroha and compassion - THANK YOU.
This story was written by the awesome Virginia Winder, and first appeared in the Taranaki Daily News; photo: Andy Jackson (Stuff)
