Foreword
Alison Taylor, Chief Executive, Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand
Welcome to the second edition of MindNet, a brand new resource for everyone interested in the promotion of mental health. Following on from edition one, we are delighted to present some highlights from the recent Third World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioural Disorders, held in Auckland in September 2004.
This joint event, organised by the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, the Clifford Beers Foundation (UK), the Carter Center, and the World Federation for Mental Health, was attended by over 370 people from across the world. Three days of keynote presentations and symposia highlighted issues such as the ongoing struggle for the human rights of people who experience mental illness, the latest evidence for effective interventions in mental health promotion, suicide prevention, and prevention of depression.
There was a strong focus on the significance of indigenous models of health, led by a paper from Professor Mason Durie, which is featured in this edition, and further keynotes from Kathie Irwin from the Kohanga Reo movement, and Dr Airini presenting on Pacific models of mental health. International papers highlighted a European movement on promotion and prevention which is sharing information on models of effective practice and building databases of evidence. We were honoured to welcome former First Lady, Mrs Rosalynn Carter, from the Carter Center, who led a discussion on the role of media with Liz Sayce, Director of the UK Disability Rights Commission, John Francis, 2001-2002 Rosalynn Carter Fellow for Mental Health Journalism New Zealand, and Gerard Vaughan, Project Manager for Like Minds Like Mine. Liz Sayce, who has had significant influence on models of social inclusion work here in New Zealand, also shared her latest work with us.
The conference was a great opportunity for practitioners, researchers and policy makers to join together and exchange ideas and models of good practice, and I am sure that the relationships made will continue to support the growth in knowledge and understanding for this emerging field of work. We were very grateful to the Ministry of Health for their support as the major sponsor, and to all the sponsors and participants, without whom this would not have been possible.
This will be my last MindNet as Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, as I move on to my new role as General Manager for the Ministry of Youth Development. I will continue to support the importance of promoting mental health for young people and would encourage all of you involved in this important work to continue to advocate for more focus on prevention and promotion, on holistic models of health which build on the experiences of our diverse population, and to put positive mental health at the heart of mental and public health services across Aotearoa.
