2019-Wesley-Mission-Annual-Report - Flipbook - Page 20
Supporting
mental health
for residents
in Wesley
Retirement Living
From hidden needs to mindfulness
and self-care. Wesley Mission is
tackling the stigma surrounding
mental health in older people.
As an organisation with experience across so many
different community services, Wesley Mission has a
reputation for identifying emerging or previously
‘hidden’ needs that might otherwise fall through the
cracks. In 2017/18, we hired a mental health
specialist to support residents in Wesley Mission’s
retirement villages. And mental health support for
older people is an area of need we’ll continue to
focus on in 2018/19 and beyond.
Over the past 12 months, Wesley Mission has been
trialling initiatives and activities to address mental
health among older people, including encouraging
residents in Wesley Retirement Living to participate
in Lifeline suicide prevention training. As the
manager of Frank Vickery Village Sylvania, Tony
explains the day to day need he sees to provide
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mental health support to residents in independent
living units.
transitioning, a terminal illness or chronic illness and
there’s grief surrounding that loss of independence”.
“What I’ve found at Frank Vickery Village… is even
though they’re in a community there’s a lot of people
who still are very isolated within that community. So
they stay in their rooms, in their units. They’re not
taking full advantage of the social activities that the
village organises,” Tony says.
Beyond the actual challenges and stressors, the
stigma surrounding mental health remains a
significant issue for older people. “There’s lots of
barriers to help-seeking in that group,” Jasmin says.
“And that’s part of the culture. Fifty years ago, we
didn’t have a language around mental health and we
didn’t talk about it, it was ‘harden up and hide it’.”
“We talk a lot about mental health in youth, mental
health in mid-life, but the mental health of older
people is really not something that people give a lot
of thought or consideration to,” says Jasmin, our
recently appointed mental health specialist serving
residents in Wesley Retirement Living. “But we know
that adults over 85 are our highest risk group for
suicide. And that shocks a lot of people.”
Since May this year, Jasmin’s been offering one-onone counselling sessions to residents at Alan Walker
Village Carlingford and Frank Vickery Village
Sylvania, and she’ll begin offering the same service
at Wesley Taylor Village Narrabeen later this year.
Jasmin has plans to introduce other forms of
support soon, including support groups and
psychoeducation. At Alan Walker Village, for
example, she’s going to trial a mindfulness
group there.
People see Jasmin to talk about clinical mental
illnesses, such as depression and anxiety, as well as
the everyday stresses of life. “When we get older,
there’s a lot of big changes that you go through, lots
of huge adjustments. It doesn’t require a clinical
diagnosis to reach out and talk to someone.”
Mental illness and poor mental health in older
people can also be misattributed to physical health
issues and is very under-diagnosed, because it has
traditionally been considered to be a normal part
of ageing.
While some of Jasmin’s clients have been sceptical
about how they can benefit from practices like
mindfulness and self-care, she and Tony have been
surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response
so far.
Jasmin is no stranger to
Wesley Mission. Three
years ago she worked as a
project officer while she
completed her psychology
degree. This year Jasmin
returned as a provisional
psychologist supporting
mental health
the
of residents in Wesley
Retirement Living.
“Often we focus on primary health. The cuts, burns
and falls side of life. But it is very important to be
able to provide mental health support too. It has
been seen and recognised as being a good thing by
the residents too,” Tony said.
It’s early days for the program and Jasmin is excited
to implement more initiatives and continue to see
residents at our villages become more open to
talking about their mental health and wellbeing.
Jasmin describes transition and change as one of
the key catalysts for the common stressors that
people face as they age. “…grief, that’s a huge
one… it can even be from moving house,
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