The ‘Mental Wealth Project’ builds mental health literacy for young people and their families

Le Va is proud to announce the rollout of The Mental Wealth Project, a mental health literacy programme for young people and their families, offering face-to-face education in schools, sports clubs, churches and communities, complemented by online support.

The team at Le Va has co-designed and tested the programme over two years, working with Pasifika and Māori rangatahi, parents, teachers, secondary schools, rugby league clubs, sports coaches, clinicians, mental health organisations, gamers, suicide prevention specialists and cultural knowledge holders.

Using a holistic strengths-based approach, the programme supports people to learn how to look after their mental health and the mental health of friends and family – creating Mental Wealth.

Covering a raft of topics from anxiety, depression, online bullying to myth busting and coping, the  Mental Wealth website also features a live webchat function with Homecare Medical counsellors available 24/7, providing a safety net and access point for communities.

As part of The Mental Wealth Project, Le Va recently launched Mana Restore, providing online information for gamers and their friends and whānau about mental health and wellbeing. Le Va collaborated with Netsafe, Headspace in Australia and the League of Legends producers, Riot Games, to ensure we provide good advice that is relevant to gamers and their whānau. – Read the League of Legends press release.

Funded by the Ministry of Health’s Pacific Innovations Fund, there is more to come from Mana Restore.  Face-to-face education with young people and parents is planned, aligned with Le Va’s Atu-Mai violence-prevention programme, with the aim of supporting gamers to have safe, healthy relationships in cyber-space and with their families

New Zealand’s Vodafone Warriors have selected Le Va as a charity of choice and they are supporting The Mental Wealth Project to ensure grassroots rugby league clubs enhance their mental health literacy and wellbeing. This exciting partnership has seen Le Va and the Warriors engage 20 rugby league clubs across Auckland and to support league families in Christchurch following the recent traumatic events. You can read the Warriors press release, and also see the Le Va team in action in Christchurch in this video the Warriors put together. While we were there, we also engaged with Ngai Tahu iwi –  listen to our interview with Radio Tahu.