Course offers options to Maori men

Local radio announcer Pat Spellman is organising an eight-week course. Photo / Ruth Keber

It's okay to talk. That is the message which will be delivered to young Maori men in a new programme in Tauranga.

Step Up is the brain child of local broadcaster Pat Spellman and will be delivered to the men across eight weeks with a guest speaker each week.

Every week Step Up will deliver key messages from guest speakers, including comedian Mike King, boxer Shane Cameron and local man Ellis Bryers (who is speaking at TedX Tauranga later this year) on themes like confidence, education and Te Ao Maori-affiliation with one's connection to Maori culture.

By using career advancement as the backbone for the sessions, the course is aimed to show young men it is okay to talk, to ask for help and be confused about what they want to do later in life.

"When you feel like you have no other options, that is when you fall into a depressive state. "I'm not a councillor or a careers adviser but I can provide them with options, different people to inspire them, motivation and opportunities for them to ask questions," Mr Spellman told the Bay of Plenty Times.

The program will be aimed at about 20 to 25 young Maori men aged between the ages of 15 and 18.

"It's about showing kids there are better options than hurting themselves, and knowing that when you need to talk to somebody, they will not judge you, they will listen.

"That's the big thing, being in a situation where you can express how you feel, that you can talk to your mates about what you are going through. We have used career advancement as the tool for this but really its about saying 'it's ok to talk, you can talk to the bros'."

Mr Spellman said the idea sprang from previously doing work with the Mental Heath Foundation and Department on Correction for at risk males.

"We will show them there are options, and they can take advantage of those options."

At the beginning of the eight weeks the men will be asked to write down where they see themselves going and what they want to do with there lives.

They will continue to do a weekly video blog which will be turned into a a final reel to piece together the experiences of the men, Mr Spellman said.

Help on offer

Rates of mental health services used by Maori are rising. The latest figures from the Ministry of Health show that in 2010/11 Maori had the highest rate of mental health and addiction service use (4938 people seen for every 100,000 Maori) and Asian people the lowest (911 people per 100,000), when compared with Pacific people and other ethnicities. The rate of Maori seen by DHBs also has risen at a faster rate in the last ten years (33.4% rise) than for non- Maori (18.5%).

- Mental Health Foundation.