Wednesday, September 11th | 6:45 am - 8:30 am
Surfair, Marcoola
September Breakfast – talking Mental Health with The Sunshine Coast Mind and Neuroscience – Thompson Institute
This month we're revisiting the important topic of Mental Health; how to spot the warning signs among peers, clients, staff and loved ones that something isn't right, and how to cope with the difficult conversations.
Partnering with the incredible team at The Sunshine Coast Mind and Neuroscience – Thompson Institute, this will be an open panel conversation about mental health in the workplace and daily life with some practical tips for you to implement right away to support yourself and those around you. We’ll also discuss the latest neuroscience behind mental health – how brain structure and function support mental health and how we can all use that information to increase wellbeing. Importantly, we’ll also learn the mental health issues and associated impacts experienced by our Sunshine Coast community and what our region is doing collectively to build its capacity and resilience.
When you think about the amount of time you spend each week with your staff/workmates/clients you will most likely find that you have more contact hours with these people than your own family and friends, and with more than 50% of people experiencing a mental health issue, it makes so much sense to equip yourself with some helpful tools to be able to assist those around you when they need mental and emotional support.
Of course, the insight you learn at this breakfast can be applied to all social scenarios whether you want to learn how to effectively talk to a work colleague or a friend going through a tough time. Being a network of driven businesswomen, we also recognise a large number of micro/small business owners and soloprenuers in our membership who are more likely to experience feelings of isolation and overwhelm, so we, of course, want to understand how we can best support our fellow SCBWN members to feel like they have a safe group to reach out to.
With the all-important RUOK (are you ok?) Day encouraging people to check-in on others being a great start to addressing mental health, do you know what you'd say or do if someone you asked said "no"? Do you know what support structures you could implement for a staff member going through a difficult time and how this fits in with their performance management and team dynamic? How many times do you check-in, what do you say, do you keep prodding or do you ignore? It can be an uncomfortable situation and most of us will find ourselves there, so come and learn from the Thompson Institute experts about the right way to approach the difficult conversations.
What you will learn:
- What we can all learn from the latest neuroscience to improve our mental and brain health
- The mental health issues specific to the Sunshine Coast and what our region is collectively doing to build its capacity
- How to identify, understand and respond to mental health issues in staff members, colleagues, friends or family
- What to do if someone around you is not OK
- Mental Health first aid tips
- Where to go for more resources, support and training
About the Thompson Institute:
The Sunshine Coast Mind and Neuroscience – Thompson Institute was established by the University of the Sunshine Coast as a hub for world-class mental health research, teaching and clinical services.
The Thompson Institute pioneers a unique operating model that integrates clinical services, advocacy, research and education. The result is the fast translation of research breakthroughs into education and practice, contributing to the Institute’s mission to improve outcomes for people experiencing mental illness and find preventions and cures.
Opening last year, the Institute is already at the forefront of research for some of Australia’s most pressing mental health issues, including suicide prevention, healthy brain ageing and dementia, post-traumatic stress disorder and youth mental health.
The Institute and its people are community-focussed and believe partnerships with government and industry and the participation of businesses and the general public in education, research and advocacy are vital to the improvement of mental health on the Sunshine Coast and beyond.
Professor Jim Lagopoulos
Professor Jim Lagopoulos is the inaugural director of USC’s Sunshine Coast Mind and Neuroscience - Thompson Institute, a hub for mental health and neurological research, clinical services and teaching.
He is an expert in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and has been involved in neuroimaging for over 20 years. This expertise in capturing the structure and activity of the brain along with his passion to better people’s lives has contributed to the Thompson Institute’s growing reputation as a leader in research for some of Australia’s most pressing mental health issues.
Prof Lagopoulos is a leading academic and medical specialist who has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and contributed to several books. He is member of numerous international societies, including the 'International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine' and the 'Organization of Human Brain Mapping'. He has received several awards, including the 'Westmead Foundation Prize'.
Dr Amanda Clacy
Dr Amanda Clacy is a research fellow at the Sunshine Coast Mind and Neuroscience – Thompson Institute, leading a vital suicide-prevention program.
This includes The Alliance for Suicide Prevention – Sunshine Coast, an evidence-based community-focussed program to drive down the higher-than-average rate of suicide on the Sunshine Coast and its wide impacts on our community. Dr Clacy’s team works with industry and businesses to implement a best-practice European model proven to improve the mental health of communities and reduce suicide rates by 24 per cent within just two years.
In addition to working with community, Dr Clacy is involved in the Thompson Institute’s research and ground-breaking clinical trials in mental health and suicide prevention.
She is passionate about bridging the gap between research and practice and the art of communicating science so its findings and benefits can be understood and accessed by everyone.
