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Depression: Let's make prevention part of the discussion

Announcement posted by Wise PR Consulting 11 Apr 2017

World Health Day 2017

Perth-based owner of Resilience Kit, Gemma Lee Taylor says that while the 2016/17 World Health Day campaign focuses on the importance of talking about depression as a vital component of recovery, she hopes that on 7 April we can make prevention part of the conversation too.

“To treat depression and depressive illness, we must first understand it; and to understand it we need to talk about it.

“As a society, we are getting better at how we talk about mental health; but we talk more about “cure” or treatment than we do about the ways we could prevent depression in the first instance.

“We know prevention is better than a cure; but treatment holds our attention more when it comes to depression. 

“I’m suggesting this World Health Day, let’s also recognise and talk about our options in the area of prevention,” she said.

In 2012, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said prevention of depression is an area deserving of more attention; and referenced again in the 2016/17 World Health Day campaign: “Depression can be effectively prevented and treated.”

According to the WHO, prevention programs evidence the reduction of elevated levels of depressive symptoms, none more so than those if deployed in targeted grass roots channels including but not limited to schools, playgroups, and community centres.

Depression can affect anyone, but three groups at the centre of the World Health Day campaign this year, are adolescents and young adults, women of childbearing age (particularly following childbirth), and older adults.

“When we talk prevention of depression, we need to talk about interventions that improve the psychosocial well-being of the family unit: that means young people and those in charge of their care,” she said.

Through Resilience Kit, Ms Taylor advocates for preventative training for children and adolescents by finding ways to engage and empower the Perth families: parents, carers and elders.

“We know that if we can provide information on evidence-based strategies to build resilience in parents and caregivers, it can reduce parental depressive symptoms, and simultaneously drive improvements in children’s outcomes,” she said.

“The information and help is out there, it is just a little hard to find. We can do more to make support more accessible.

“The onus is wide reaching: it’s on the media to help change the public discourse; families to change the way we talk about depression in the home, and health and education providers to make sure preventative measures are on their radar.

“Depression can be prevented! Let’s talk about it,” said Ms Taylor.

 

-ENDS-

 

For more information, contact:

Carly Wise

Gemma Lee Taylor

Managing Director

Owner

Wise PR Consulting

Resilience Kit

carly@wiseprconsulting.com

gemma@resiliencekit.com.au

+61 435 002 895

+61 481 369 446

 

Resilience Kit: About

Resilience Kit delivers the internationally acclaimed FRIENDS Resilience Programs™ for the prevention and treatment of anxiety and depression in children, their parents and caregivers in Western Australia.

Developed by Brisbane-based Professor, Clinical Psychologist and world-leader in child psychology, Paula Barrett, FRIENDS Resilience™ Programs are recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and applied widely by health and education providers in over 20 countries. 

The Resilience Kit team, led by owner, Gemma Lee Taylor, delivers “parallel interventions” to Western Australian families. This means, the child and primary caregivers are engaged at the same time to effectively strengthen the resilience of the family unit as a whole. The interventions are delivered in family friendly community centres to normalise the experience of obtaining mental health services.

The rationale for this approach is that anxiety and depression is often systemic: it doesn’t exist in isolation and a preventative approach can empower families to develop the skills they need to be resilient and better able to cope with the stresses and challenges of life.

If excessive worry and unhelpful thinking patterns are not addressed early on, this can extend from childhood into adult life and stop young people from being their very best.

In addition to family interventions, Resilience Kit also provides free, community seminars at local schools, playgroups and community centres.

“At Resilience Kit, we are passionate about promoting and maintaining healthy emotional development and well-being in our local community.

“Free community seminars provide an opportunity to open a dialogue about why building resilience in the family is so important. We also look at risk and protective factors for healthy emotional development, and how we can support our kids’ social and emotional skill development,” said Ms Taylor.

The FRIENDS Resilience Programs for children include:

Fun FRIENDS (4-7years), FRIENDS for Life (8-10years), and My FRIENDS Youth (11-15years).

In parallel, parents and caregivers are equipped with Parenting Strategies and an Adult Resilience Program. In these programs, parents and caregivers have an opportunity to mirror and reinforce the skills learned by their child.

For more information on Resilience Kit’s FRIENDS Resilience™ Programs, visit

http://www.resiliencekit.com.au/programs.

  

Gemma Lee Taylor: About 

Bachelor of Science (Psychology) Honours, 2015

According to Resilience Kit owner, Gemma Lee Taylor: “If you go against the grain, sometimes great things can happen.”

 

After completing her degree at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in 2015, Gemma relocated to Brisbane to work alongside her mentor, Professor Paula Barrett: Clinical Psychologist and founder of The FRIENDS Resilience™ Programs.

Rather than assume a salaried position in Brisbane, in 2016 Gemma returned to WA bringing with her the FRIENDS Resilience™ Programs as part of her own business, Resilience Kit.

“Working with Professor Barrett enabled me to obtain a good insight into psychology as a profession, and the interaction we have with other allied health professionals and the community.

“There is a real need to develop social and emotional skills in children experiencing anxiety, but also the need to strengthen resilience in their families at the same time. This is something I am particularly passionate about bringing to WA,” she said.

Gemma leads the Resilience Kit team to deliver group interventions for children as well as their parents and or caregivers in community centres across Perth.

Winner of the APS Prize for Psychology and a research scholarship with ANZPATH for her thesis, Gemma maintains her greatest sense of achievement comes from working with the local community.

“There is something really special about empowering the community around positive mental health.

“The information and help is out there; it’s just a little hard to reach sometimes.

“It is my hope that Resilience Kit can bridge that gap,” she said.

For more information on Gemma Lee Taylor, visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/resiliencekit/.

 

Useful references:

 

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/3303.0~2015~Main%20Features~Intentional%20self-harm:%20key%20characteristics~8

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/09/27/australias-suicide-crisis-has-peaked-to-a-terrifying-new-height/

 

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/about-us/research-projects/statistics-and-references

 

http://www.who.int/mental_health/management/depression/wfmh_paper_depression_wmhd_2012.pdf

 

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4338.0main+features42011-13

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/depression-is-now-the-leading-cause-of-disability-worldwide_uk_58af0610e4b0140601308840