Equally Well launches SEE US campaign

Equally Well officially launched its SEE US campaign capturing the interest of numerous organisations which are ready to get involved.

This campaign was designed to overcome diagnostic overshadowing - when mental health and addictions health histories overshadow physical health needs.

Many people experiencing these issues die much earlier than the general population, with a two to three times greater risk of premature death (defined as dying before the age of 65).

Two-thirds of this is due to cardiovascular disease, cancer and other physical illnesses.

Determined to impact this imbalance, the Equally Well Collaborative rolled out the SEE US activation campaign at the end of July.

The launch of SEE US took place in South Auckland at Ember Korowai Takitini's Huia Road Hub.

It was attended by more than 50 delegates including from Nōku te Ao, Heart Foundation NZ, Cancer Society of New Zealand, Te Whatu Ora Te Toka Tumai Auckland, The Salvation Army New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga & Samoa, Te Pou Pathways New Zealand Penina Trust, NZ Drug Foundation and Mind and Body.

The event resulted in success with many delegates pledging to activate it as part of their communication programmes.

TVNZ were there to cover the event for a programme to be aired later in the year as well as Kent Johns from Take it From Us Radio.

The campaign draws attention to it by giving a platform to the voice of lived experience and provides a multimedia toolkit to help raise awareness of the challenge and allow sector organisation to incoporate the message “SEE US -Look beyond the health history – see the person."

Equally well marketing lead Simon Kozak hoped to see the toolkit being utilised by sector bodies to form part of their marketing efforts.

“Our hope is that the video clips and banners will start to appear across sector platforms to highlight the challenges faced by our whaiora."

Recalling her own experiences, Equally Well Backbone Team member Tui Taurua spoke about the journey the sector has been on to get to where we are today and how the SEE US voice is going to be a source of power for our Māori and Pasifika.

She implored everyone to take action, get the message out and to “see the person -āta whakarongo – listen carefully."

To learn more about the campaign and how your organisation can get involved, visit the webpage here.