Mental health must come first

A Statewide campaign encouraging people to stay mentally heathy has been officially relaunched, with organisers also looking to establish a Pilbara specific program.
Curtin University’s Mentally Healthy WA has unveiled a new and evolved Act Belong Commit campaign to help inspire people to prioritise their mental health. The campaign team toured Port Hedland, Roebourne and Karratha last week to meet local organisations which could be involved in the new Pilbara capacity-building campaign which aims to build on Act Belong Commit at a local level.
Mentally Healthy WA director associate professor Christina Pollard said she hoped to establish partnerships with local Aboriginal organisations and health services.
“So the way it is working is we strengthened and relaunched the campaign and now we are starting to set the groundwork for the extra interventions that we are doing in the Pilbara,” she said.
“In the Pilbara area, it’s particularly important that there is an Aboriginal-led campaign.”
Curtin University health science director of Indigenous engagement Cheryl Davis said Aboriginal organisations already had strong connections to the community.
“These Aboriginal community organisations have been doing this work for a long time so they have the capacity, they have the resources, and many of the employers also live and belong to the community so they know what the community wants,” she said.
Act Belong Commit campaign manager Meg Clarey said it was vital for everyone to look after their mental health.
“At the end of the day, what we are trying to do is get people to actually put their mental health on their agenda and prioritise it,” she said.
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