Whether you're working in a recovery space or are wanting to foster greater wellbeing in your community, it’s important to work closely with potential allies who can help. You don’t have to do it alone – and even if you could, the end result is always better with a little help from your friends.
Working closely with Rūnanga and Iwi helps ensure your strategies are appropriate and effective. An endorsement of activities from Rūnanga and Iwi, and being able to utilise their communication channels to amplify your messages, will increase your chances of ‘cutting through’ and being heard.
Working closely with academic ‘experts’ is a great way to ensure your work is informed by the latest thinking and evidence. Supportive comments from academics can lend credibility to your work, and as such their opinions can carry considerable weight with media.
NGOs generally have incredibly strong linkages with their community. They are well positioned to provide information about where people are at, can act as a sounding board for your ideas, and can help share your messages far and wide
Multiple agencies and organisations have a role to play supporting a community’s recovery following an event. Councils, District Health Boards, Civil Defence, Ministries and Departments and non-government organisations are typically all involved in aspects of recovery, often at the coal face. It’s important that everyone’s messaging and actions complement each other.
A copy of our 2012 - 2014 Strategic Direction
A copy of our 2015 - 2018 Strategic Direction
A powerpoint outlining the steps for developing a stakeholder engagement plan.
Learning from previous disasters about how decisions and actions have affected people’s wellbeing.
Taking an holistic approach to addressing the needs of communities, determining appropriate course of action
Planning, coordinating and delivering psychosocial interventions and mental health treatments in an emergency.
Leading in Disaster Recovery: Companion through the Chaos shares the hard-won wisdom, practical strategies and tools of people who have been in leadership roles post disaster
Strategy for rebuilding health and wellbeing in Greater Christchurch.
A systematic review of primary research on secondary stressors
A Scoping Report for Mental Health Promotion in Hurunui and Kaikoura following the earthquakes of 2016
Recovering from a disaster takes time (experts suggest five to ten years) and it's important to say right up front that it’s not a straight forward process. It’s very normal for things to feel “two steps forward - one step back” — but research suggests there are some common phases communities go through.
Mental wellbeing is all about feeling good and functioning well. Mental health is something we all have, and just like our physical health, our mental health is something we can look after and strengthen.
Before you do anything, it's important to get a sense of where people are at, and how they are doing. Whatever your budget, asking questions and seeking to understand is the perfect place to start (and continue!).
Whether you're working in a recovery space or are wanting to foster greater wellbeing in your community, it’s important to work closely with potential allies who can help. You don’t have to do it alone – and even if you could, the end result is always better with a little help from your friends.
Regardless of your budget or the type of work you’re hoping to do, you can achieve much more by working in partnership with others in your community.
Mental health promotion supports people to have more awareness of and control over what helps them feel good and function well. Raising emotional and wellbeing literacy can reduce worries or concerns over troubling experiences and emotions, bringing people’s natural coping mechanisms to the fore, improve quality of life, raise awareness of issues early and reduce the need for service-level care.
Having a team with a wide range of backgrounds and specialities can deliver the best results. Team up with people who specialise in the things you don’t and foster a culture built on trust, where it's okay to disagree, have different opinions and throw ideas around.
Whether you're creating resources, giving talks or planning an event, creativity and thinking outside the square can really help you generate some buzz and engage your audience. Getting specialist help with visual communication can be a big help!
Knowing the difference you’re making enables you to continually refine and reframe your approach. As well as helping to ensure you’re on the right track, having evidence that you are making a difference can help you secure ongoing funding and support.
All Right? has been annually evaluated - this has taken two forms, a quantitative survey and a process evaluation. The survey has measured reach and impact, while the process evaluation has focused on specific population groups or aspects of the campaign.
