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John Tovey, Consumer Consultant for Capital & Coast District Health Board, General Adult Mental Health Services.
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Consumer Consultants
John smiles as he tells me he used to be the one who 'rattled the cage from the outside' and told the service how much they needed to do before they got it right. But for the last three and half years he has been on the inside and learning how to make improvements and facilitate progress while advocating for peers and the services he is associated with. John is one of a team of five peers that are employed as Consumer Consultants, or Consumer Advisors, that work for Capital & Coast. These positions began with just a single person about ten years ago, and that person slowly won funding for the other positions that have joined in this effort to take advantage of the experience of those with mental illness to inform the programming and service delivery while helping to make direct improvements in the day to day operations. John meets weekly with the team leader of the in-patient ward to discuss the latest issues that have been brought to bear regarding consumer needs and rights. He has one title but wears many hats, I was present when he was called by a consumer in the in-patient ward requesting John's advocacy in settling a critical sense of violation between this consumer and the psychiatrist for the ward. John responded and met the same day with the consumer even though it was a bit of a drive and John had to shift his schedule to do so. The outcome was very positive from what I heard the consumer say a few days later, largely due to the process John helped to facilitate in partnership with the treating psychiatrist and the consumer. John is also featured as one of the five people with experience of mental illness in the new documentary (they like to say 'doco' here) called "Mental Notes". John makes an impressive presentation of his experiences, and recovery, from institutional care. John is very welcoming and gracious, but what impressed me the most is the high regard his peers, both those with the experience of mental illness and those lacking that experience, have for him. The psychiatrist for the in-patient ward told me she has a high regard. So I was pleased when John was willing to take some time from his very busy schedule to sit with me and explain more about his role and the team he works within. Next week before I leave I am hoping to sit with another of his team members, Anne Helm, who is also featured in the film "Mental Notes".
Bi-Cultural Training Day
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| This is the class setting for the one day seminar on Bi-Cultural training required by the district health board |
Capital and Coast made arrangements so that I could sit in for this day long training on the Maori and British treaty of Waitangi in 1840 that has set all the debates in motion that continue to this day regarding the rights of the Maori in their homeland. The Maori were promised many rights that the crown and New Zealand government are still trying to live up to. In the 172 years since, the Maori have had their culture attacked on many fronts. Many Maori of my generation were punished in the public schools for using any Maori words, or references to their beliefs. Consequently many of these Maori can no longer speak the language of their ancestors. Around 1970 many Maori elders decide to work at reclaiming their cultural practices and tribal rights. Some began Maori immersion schools to resurrect their language and beliefs. I know a few children here that are in these schools because their parents are Maori and want their children to learn and respect the language and ways of their ancestors. For the Maori, illness is viewed in part as the result of separation and disconnection, as in a loss of connection from whanau (family, both in the small and larger senses of the word), and their iwi (tribe/ bones of their people). So mental health services are tasked with facilitating a reconnection for the person who is ill with their environment and whanau through spiritual connection, the energies and responsibilities of relationship. The presenter for this Bi-Cultural Day was very good, speaking extemporaneously most of the time but with a very solid grounding in his culture and history, and taking many questions from the audience. I sat next to a Maori woman who was nearly the same age as myself and she was one who can not speak the language but gets by knowing some words and terms. She is a nurse in the hospital and helped explain some of the Maori beliefs, that were familiar, to me. Around the mid 80's the country gave official recognition to the Maori language and then required all signage to be bi-lingual, TV included Maori features, many greeting habits normalized more of the Maori practices in public events, and the arts especially worked to highlight Maori creative and traditional arts. This something Carla van Zon did a great deal to improve in her various roles with the many festivals organizers and artists.
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| John Whaanga is an independent consultant for this day training on Bi-Cultural awareness. |
Maori Ways
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| Stained glass wall for the entrance into the marae for the iwi at the National Museum of Te Papa |
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| Maori adage posted on a cafe wall and the first thing my friend Tua wrote into my notebook when I asked him to share something important to him and his Maori beliefs. |
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| Detail from a portrait called "The Other Sister" by Sophia Minson |
Many Maori are brown skinned but these days many Maori are also not brown skinned due to many decades of families created with non Maori, mostly european immigrants. These portraits show examples of Maori who are light skinned but who have connected with their ancestral families who are Maori and then committed to their ways, and express it in their moko, or facial tattoos. Traditionally this signifies their mana, or prestige. Traditionally these tattoos were requested and or granted by the iwi elders to signify distinction in an individual's role within the iwi. In these times they are less formally sought and taken for individual expressions of identity, but often a tattoo continues to demonstrate the connection and expression of an individuals spiritual connection to their environment and their relationships.
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| Detail from a portrait "Tom" by Andre Bronniman |
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| Where my sabbatical got its official start, the office of Tony Littlejohns, Operations Manager for Capital & Coast DHB |
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| Tony Littlejohns, supporting member of the International Initiative of Mental Health Leadership |
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| And the view that will be my last night in Wellington shortly before I get on the 6am flight to Brisbane and home on the 11th of May. |
