Wild Bamboo customers gather for first lunch and learn event

“It enrages me and makes me not want to stop until we are making good progress”

Wild Bamboo’s inaugural lunch and learn event gave local customers the opportunity to have a delicious lunch and then listen to Helen Lockett discuss an important topic of interest, Equally Well.

“It enrages me and makes me not want to stop until we are making good progress.”

This was one of the opening lines at an event hosted for Wild Bamboo customers in Hamilton on 15 October. Wild Bamboo’s inaugural lunch and learn event gave local customers the opportunity to have a delicious lunch and then listen to Helen Lockett discuss an important topic of interest, Equally Well.

Equally Well is bringing people together to address health inequities

Equally Well is a New Zealand wide collaboration of people and organisations committed to improving physical health outcomes for people who experience mental health and addiction problems. Helen is the strategic lead for Equally Well and she shared stories about how New Zealanders are coming together to address this health inequity.

People who experience mental health problems are between two to three times more likely to die from cancer than those of the same socio-economic status who don’t have mental health problems. Rates of cancer are about the same but worse outcomes indicate disparities in access to and quality of health care treatment.

An opportunity to discuss the issue and share ideas 

It is no wonder people across the country want to hear what other organisations are doing to help address this inequity, and this event was an opportunity for organisations to discuss the issue and share ideas about what they are doing – or would like to do – to address it.

“Equally Well is collaborative and it’s everyone’s to own. It is a health equity issue; a whole of health issue. Keep chipping away at it and don’t stop – it isn’t going to go away” said Helen.

Helen encouraged attendees to use Equally Well resources and profile what they’re doing so others learn about changes being made. She also stressed the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of changes so a body of evidence can be built up about what works in New Zealand.

James Gordon, Wild Bamboo general manager, was really pleased with how the event went and how well the topic resonated with customers who attended.

“They really enjoyed the chance to take some time out from work to listen to something that I think gets us all angry – angry in a good way to channel this into action.”

He explained Wild Bamboo is planning ways to play its part in the Equally Well collaborative.

“Wild Bamboo is looking at what we can do with Recordbase to help with this – things like reminders and prompts for Recordbase users. We are really looking forward to working with Helen and doing our bit to help people live better, healthier lives.”

Published on: 15 October 2015