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Assisting First Nations Peoples with mental health conditions develop vocational confidence and knowledge of work to pursue their employment and other vocational goals

Introduction:
Building employment-related skills including self-awareness, health management, and confidence are key drivers of better mental health outcomes for First Nations Peoples. Despite this, targeted, culturally responsive vocational interventions remain limited. In partnership with a First Nations organisation, The Journey to Work (TJtW) program was implemented to provide tailored vocational support to First Nations Peoples with mental health conditions, aiming to build their employment capacity and workforce participation.

Objectives
1. Enhance self-awareness and vocational confidence through a 12-week health management and employment orientation program.
2. Facilitate goal setting, vocational planning and skill development through individual Occupational Therapy (OT) sessions.
3. Support culturally safe employment pathways through employer engagement and tailored workplace adaptations.

Approach
Through the implementation of a health management and employment orientation group program, complemented with individual OT, First Nations Peoples experiencing mental ill-health received tailored support to assist achieving their vocational goals.

Practice Implications:
Key success factors included embedding the OT within the First Nations organisation to foster trust and collaboration; offering emotional, physical and practical assistance to community beyond “traditional working hours”; and engaging community members in co-designing program content.

Conclusion:
Evaluation of the project outcomes found marked improvements of individual vocational and employment readiness; understanding and confidence of health management in relation to work; and increased social and community connectedness. These findings highlight the critical role of OT within employment supports and demonstrate how tailored and culturally safe vocational interventions can empower First Nations Peoples with mental health conditions achieve their employment goals

Presenters

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Preetha Sivakumaran

Mental Health Occupational Therapist, WISE IDEA, WISE Employment

Preetha Sivakumaran is an Employment and Mental Health Specialist Occupational Therapist at WISE IDEA, WISE Employment. Preetha completed her Bachelors in Health Sciences, majoring in Public Health from Latrobe University and went on to complete her Masters in Occupational Therapy from Monash University in 2020.

She has worked in vocational and workplace rehabilitation, specifically pre-employment medicals as well as for a community NDIS organisation, working alongside people with a range of ages, backgrounds and disabilities including paediatrics, mental health and physical health. She is the WISE IDEA Project Lead for The Journey to Work-the First Nations project delivered in partnership with Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place.

Preetha is of mixed South Asian background and has a strong interest incorporating her culture, values and spirituality to her practice and connection with others.

Shannon Lang

Shannon Lang

Director, WISE IDEA, WISE Employment

Shannon is an Occupational Therapist and joined WISE Employment in 2022 to lead and develop WISE Employment’s new initiative WISE IDEA. She has long recognised the positive impact employment can have on mental health and the importance of collaboration in this area between state and federal support services.  Shannon has represented the mental health sector on Victorian Government committees and worked in senior leadership and management roles in mental health for over 20 years. Strategy, planning and staff capability development have been key areas of responsibility over those years; Shannon is now applying these skills and commitment to achieving sustainable employment and associated quality of life and social and economic inclusion for people living with mental health conditions.