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Kathryn Platz was recently appointed as the National Family/ Whanau Advisor at the Mental Health Commission. The role is to provide the family perspective and engage with the family network in the mental health and addiction sector.
Kathryn has participated in the mental health and addiction sector for over a decade as both a support worker and also as a family member.
“I have journeyed with my partner and our children through mental health services on the search for well being as individuals and as a family group. The mental distress in my family of origin went unheard and unseen and lives were lost before their time. These current and past experiences drive my passion as an advocate for the family/ whanau voice in respectful partnership with the consumer/ tangata whaiora voice,” said Kathryn Platz.
Mental Health Commission Chair Dr Peter Mc George said that Kathryn’s networks and experience will add value to the work of the Commission.
“Kathryn comes to us with a tremendous kete of knowledge about the sector and the issues family and whanau face as they work with a family member who has a mental health or addiction issue. Sometimes the process can be very daunting and Kathryn’s input to our work programme is very important. We welcome her to the role.”
Currently Kathryn is working on developing family/ whanau communication netwoks nationwide.
“ Healing and integration of life experience happens best in healthy connection with others,” she said.
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The Mental Health Commission says that it is important to be clear about who to contact and what to expect from clinicians in psychiatric emergencies.
The Commission has launched its new website this week which features an easy to find set of numbers to ring when the public need urgent help, www.mhc.govt.nz.
“People can look in the front of their phone-books for numbers but if you have a computer the Commission’s web-site is simple to find, you just go to the web-site and click on urgent help and then click on the area where you live on the map,” said Dr Mc George, Mental Health Commission Chair.
The public may not appreciate that psychiatric clinicians do not have the authority to restrain people in the community and would be placing themselves at risk if they were to attempt to do so.
“It is important to realise however that in cases of life-threatening emergency to ring 111as it is not possible for Psychiatric Emergency Teams to intervene in situations where the threat of violence is immediately immanent,” he said.
The role of community based psychiatric emergency teams is to provide assessment in the community whether this be in a persons home, in some cases their work or again where they may have been detained such as Police Stations.
“In most cases crises can be averted but where hospitalisation is required this can be arranged. The critical point is that this is best done early in a crisis rather than when there is the possibility of immediate harm to someone,” said Dr Mc George.
“This is why the Commission’s website is so important because it gives people simple information about who to ring where-ever you are and there’s other information on the web-site about mental health and addictions services that people can search if they’re interested,” he said.
For further information please contact:
Gabrielle Huria, MHC Media Advisor
Phone: 029 371 3904
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For media inquiries please contact:
Gabrielle Huria
Communications Advisor
029 371 3904
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