“Just last week, Minister for Health David Clarke said that, as a country, we need to do more to support people in distress, and through this new programme we will be contributing to this effort,” says Chris Gosling, Chief Executive of Whitireia Community Polytechnic and the Wellington Institute of Technology. “We face huge challenges in the areas of mental health, addiction or disability in our society and communities here in Aotearoa New Zealand. I firmly believe that collaboration between education providers and the health sector is key to finding the best, and most empathetic, and lasting solutions to some of these challenges.”
There will be an information evening for those interested in finding out more about the programme tonight at 6pm, at the Whitireia, Porirua Campus.
Peer support workers, often in voluntary health or community-based roles, provide knowledge, and emotional or practical help on an equal footing to the person they are supporting because they have lived experience of similar challenges.