WERO a success among mental health patients and staff

WERO a success among mental health patients and staff

WERO was designed to appeal to the competitive nature of smoking Maori, and after a successful pilot in Te Taitokerau and Hawke's Bay, was funded through the innovation fund for national competitions. Teams of 10 could register their waka and with a local WERO kaitataki and kaihautu, competed against other waka to stay auahi kore. At four weeks, eight weeks and 12 weeks, teams were smokelysed and the team with the most people smokefree won prizes for their chosen organisation.

In 2016, after attaining unparalleled success with the corporate sector, for the final WERO challenge, the Regional coordinator for WERO Auckland, Breviss Wolfgramm, wanted to try something different and created a special race just for mental health provider teams. Breviss had seen the research suggesting that the smoking prevalence was highest among people suffering mental illnesses.

As a kaitataki, Breviss learnt many mental health staff members find it hard to break the culture of quitting inside their facilities because they are not auahi kore themselves. It seemed to him the mental health sector had become the last bastion where smoking was still considered a "norm" that needed to be broken.

There were 31 Teams with a combined total of 114 staff and service users involved in the "Mental health and Addictions WERO challenge". After four weeks 30.7 percent showed a non-smoking status: mainstream statistics for the same period average 44 percent. After eight weeks 48.2 percent showed a non-smoking status: mainstream statistics for the same period average 33 percent. After 12 weeks 62.2 percent showed a non-smoking status: mainstream statistics for the same period average 22 percent! There were also an additional 25 service users who weren't registered in the competition but attended the weekly sessions with their chosen organisation because they were interested in learning how to become a person that does not smoke.

Dr Peter McColl, Service Clinical Director at Te Whetu Tawera and a Consultant Psychiatrist at Manawanui Oranga Hinengaro, the Auckland District Health Board mental health service for Maori, was a heavy smoker going through a health scare at the time WERO was scouting for teams.

Peter was particularly attracted to WERO's visual and online framework, and became part of a team of colleagues, and then also service users.

"I'd never tried quitting before and truly didn't believe I could. But I loved the kaupapa and cultural framework around WERO.

"My colleagues kindly said I'd helped motivate them and some of the most supportive comments came from patients – which was a telling and inspirational reversal of our usual relationship.

"The fourth-week challenge to be 24 hours smokefree woke me up to the meaning of 'WERO' and was a total game-changer."

Peter's first smokelyser test was 58 (very heavy smoker), and whereas this was the expected result he needed to challenge himself from week to week.

He was very proud to get a 6 result on the final day of WERO.

"I must admit I haven't quit smoking, but a lot has changed: I don't smoke outside my workplace anymore, when I used to be infamous for it: people always knew they could find me... on the pavement; and I don't smoke when I'm on-call, even though it can be stressful.

To congratulate kaihoe and to raise awareness of their success as a "world first", WERO held a prize giving event for the "Mental Health and Addictions challenge" at the Auckland town hall which happened to coincide with World Smokefree Day on 31 May.

WERO would like to thank the following individuals and organisations for their tautoko to this kaupapa: Berni McBride (NRA), Jane Galea- Singer (ADHB), Latu Pasa (Emerge Aotearoa), Emma Helmich,Paul Emery (Pathways), Heber Fruen (Pacifica Quit Smoking), Zoe Hawke (Te Ara Ha Ora), Catherine Manning (ARPHS), Manawanui Marae, Harakeke House and all the teams and external stakeholders who participated.

ENDS

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