September 2004 - Tracey Napa

First of all I feel I feel it’s a great opportunity to draw everyone’s attention to Deaf Awareness Week! Congratulations to the Deaf Community in all they have achieved. Especially in their efforts to bring equality of human rights to the Deaf via their perseverance in lobbying for the NZ Sign Language Bill to be passed in parliament. Awesome success in breaking down communication barriers! This will have a huge impact by raising the level of respect and consciousness that the hearing have for the Deaf and their basic cultural right to communicate within all arenas of the hearing world in their own natural language.

As the resource development worker here at Deaf Mental Health Service I am pleased to say I have finalised the go ahead for plans to develop a resource project, which I am thrilled about! The project involves taking the already made and screened documentary about the Toi Ora Live Arts venue - a place for Mental Health consumers to attend a professionally tutored Arts course with a weekly programme which is most popular among hearing clients. This documentary, “Open Door” will be adapted for the benefit of our Deaf clients, who will greatly benefit from involvement in this therapeutic arts centre. It is our goal to help ignite interest about the range of classes, from Pacific design, painting, visual arts, computer skills, writing fiction etc. Many of them lack access to appropriate opportunities to join the hearing world in a therapeutic environment and thus I had this idea to inspire them to take the initial step towards integration.

In Wellington I have visited a mainstream hearing psychiatric venue, The Clubhouse, which has proven to be a very popular social venue for six Deaf clients who visit it regularly. I have a vision that with the Deaf Mental Health Service staff support, we can introduce Deaf clients to the same therapeutic facilities in the form of an Arts programme called Toi Ora Live Arts for Mental Health.

It is my hope that if Deaf clients were to watch the documentary, and hear other mental health service users talk openly about their unique experience of struggles with mental illness, then they may feel a sense of identification with the mainstream mental health consumers, and be given an empathic reassurance that they are not alone in their experiences. This valuable resource will facilitate the process of encouraging more clients towards getting involved in the programme, and reap the benefits of developing skills, pursuing interests, growing in confidence and all the consequent personal gains that inevitably ensue. The best outcome is of course to foster a greater sense of belonging and motivation to get involved!

I recently attended the Promotion of Mental health & Prevention of Mental Illness & Behavioral Disorders Conference, which was an International event at the Hyatt in Auckland. Such a brilliant learning opportunity, and WOW did I meet some amazing people who I am in touch with still to share info and widen our pool of networking services. I meet a wonderful lady from Beyond Blue who kindly offered our service a subtitled video all about depression!

Happy Deaf Awareness Week to all!

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