Mental Health Week at Kirwan Health Campus

Thanks to our community Brighter Lives Townsville Hospital Foundation funded $1,500 to the Townsville Community Care Unit/Acquired Brain Injury at Kirwan Health Campus to support their Mental Health activities.

Consumer Consultant, Mental Health, Carmen Delaney said these activities throughout the week were open for everyone to enjoy.

“The consumers at the unit were really keen to participate in activities such as Tai Chi on Wednesday, and all other activities were geared to everyone of all abilities,” said Carmen.

On Thursday, special guest, Tom Gilbert from the North Queensland Cowboys participated in rock painting with some of the consumers.

“Tom is such a beautiful soul and it was wonderful for him to participate in rock painting with our consumers.

“One of our consumers, Walter, cried happy tears over the experience and was completely overwhelmed with the meeting,” said Carmen.

Acting Team Leader CNC, Emma Lord, said these activities are important for our consumers during Mental Health Week.

“Rock painting assists participants to ‘take time to take notice, by providing an opportunity to stay focused on the present and forget about their stress and worries. Using natural resources such as river rocks brings the outdoors inside, assisting participants to ‘take time to embrace nature,” said Emma.

This was also a chance to celebrate and promote Mental Health Week in the workplace. As health professionals, it is important for staff to take time for their own mental health.

“The funding also allowed us to acknowledge the hard work that staff do every day and allow our team some time to consider their own mental health.

“Our team has faced so many challenges in the past 12 months, and we were able to offer creative ways to incorporate mental health into the workplace through resources and activities that tie into each theme of Mental Health Week,” said Emma.

Queensland Mental Health Week (QMHW) is an annual awareness week that aims to shine a spotlight on individual and community mental health and wellbeing. Mental Health Week finished on Sunday 17 October, but always make sure to take some time for yourself.