{"id":2380,"date":"2021-09-03T10:31:07","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T00:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/?p=2380"},"modified":"2021-09-03T10:31:07","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T00:31:07","slug":"21-09-03-cahp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/executive-messages\/cahp\/2021\/09\/21-09-03-cahp","title":{"rendered":"Message from the Chief Allied Health Practitioner: Mark Butterworth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear colleagues,<\/p>\n

In the time before COVID I happened upon a very well-dressed woman, sitting on an upturned milk crate, sobbing in a byway at one of our hospitals. With this scene before me I didn\u2019t need to ask, \u201cR U OK?\u201d but I was grateful for the ability and training to engage and support her.<\/p>\n

Her husband was in theatre, following an emergency admission, and she was imagining the worst possible outcomes and ramifications. I followed up with her and her husband in recovery for a few weeks until he was discharged.\u00a0They were very grateful for my support and I hope I helped them on their path back to health.<\/p>\n

While this woman was clearly distressed, it is not always so simple to know who around us could do with some support.<\/p>\n

I would like to remind staff that next Thursday 9 September is R U OK? Day. This day is dedicated to inspiring and empowering everyone to meaningfully connect with people around them by asking the simple yet important question \u2018R U OK?\u2019. This year the message is are they really ok<\/em>? Ask them today.<\/p>\n

Do you know how the people in your world are really going? Life’s ups and downs happen to all of us. So chances are someone you know might be struggling. Your genuine support can make a difference whatever they are facing, big or small.\u00a0 Do not wait until someone\u2019s visibly distressed or in crisis. Make a moment meaningful and ask them how they\u2019re really going.<\/p>\n

Are they really OK? Ask them today. Your conversation could change a life.\u00a0If you would like some extra skills in asking R U OK? please visit the support network website<\/a>. It\u2019s a great tool.<\/p>\n

I would also encourage you to join the R U OK? Ambassador online event on Tuesday 7 September from 10 am to 11 am. R U OK? ambassador Jo Hassan will share the message that \u201ca conversation can change a life\u201d and her own story about why mental health is such an important issue in the community. Join the R U OK? event<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

You are also welcome to wear yellow on R U OK? Day, Thursday 9 September, and remember every day in Metro North Health can be an \u201cR U OK\u201d Day with your help.<\/p>\n

Kind regards,<\/p>\n

Mark<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the time before COVID I happened upon a very well-dressed woman, sitting on an upturned milk crate, sobbing in a byway at one of our hospitals. With this scene before me I didn\u2019t need to ask, \u201cR U OK?\u201d but I was grateful for the ability and training to engage and support her. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cahp"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2380"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2387,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2380\/revisions\/2387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}