Healthe Care celebrates World Mental Health Day; month-long event calendar continues

As one of the nation’s largest private mental health providers, October 10 is a very important date for Healthe Care, annually. It marks World Mental Health Day, an international day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against the social stigma of mental illness.

World Mental Health Day forms part of mental health week in Queensland and Western Australia, and mental health month for all of October, in New South Wales and Victoria.

Over the past 10 years, Healthe Care mental health sites have celebrated these key milestones with events and initiatives for patients, carers and staff; and undoubtedly, last week was one of the busiest for its mental health sites.

Under the recently formed Specialty Hospitals and Services business, it kicked off mental health week with a centralised marketing campaign to support the sites with local promotion – leveraging off  incredible, lived experience mental health patient stories.

Website banners, social media tiles, onsite hospital posters for patients, and marketing flyers for referrers also formed part of the mental health week marketing kit, to support fresh and engaging branded content throughout the week.

Key mental health week highlights across Healthe Care Specialty Hospitals and Services business also included:

• The Governor-General’s World Mental Health Day visit to South Coast Private to shine a spotlight on PTSD treatment for defence personnel and first responders not only in the Illawarra, but also across portfolio of mental health specialty sites
• A Women in Business breakfast with Currumbin Clinic panel discussion around mental health; with Olympic swimming champion, Libby Trickett as guest speaker
• Belmont Private’s ‘buddy bench’ donation to Moreton Bay College Primary School, to encourage a more inclusive playground for students while overcoming the challenges of making friends at school
• The launch of a school art competition and mental health talk to local primary school students for Eden Private
• Townsville Private TV news coverage about its art therapy program; a diversional, expressive therapy for those who may sometimes find talking therapy challenging
• The ever-popular annual patient, staff and community ‘Walk in My Shoes’ around Lake Monger for
• Marian Centre and Abbotsford Private in Perth
• Pet therapy at Robina Private, which continues to prove highly successful at many of specialty mental health sites
• A ‘Connect with Compassion’ talk for The Hills Clinic patients and staff, with special guest speakers from leading mental health organisation, BeyondBlue