Counselling and chaplaincy services, especially for the university's burgeoning Maori student population are in particular need of extra support.

The costs of the additional services will be met from student fees. To achieve this, the University Council has agreed to increase the 2022 compulsory student services fees by three percent.

University chief operating officer Stephen Willis says since the second half of last year there has been a sharp rise in demand for mental health and wellbeing services.

Maori students in particular, will have additional support services provided through the additional funding.

The need for extra financial support for this group is mainly because since 2018 Maori student numbers at the unioversity have increased bu 22 percent.

"The university's chaplaincy service has seen an increased need for emotional, pastoral and spiritual support among students, as well as the overall increase in the number of students," Willis says.

In addition, he says as awareness of the support chaplaincy can provide has increased, more students seeking appointments, he notes.

Another initiative the University Council will help with is to increase the hours provided for the paid Maori counsellor.

Willis says the increase in hours is mainly because Maori student numbers have increased by 22 percent since 2018.

The university has also embraced a new telehealth service to help reduce wait times for support.

University Student Health Services head Margaret Perley says it partnered with telehealth counselling service provider Whakarongorau Aotearoa to provide an online mental health service, Puawaitanga.

The service provides students with free individual counselling, wherever they are in New Zealand. It has helped reduce wait times for students wanting to access services, Perley says.

One of the world's strong supporters of people suffering from mental health issues is Pope Francis.

Last week on World Mental Health Day he invited the large crowd gathered in St Peter's Square for the Angelus to pray for them, especially for the victims of suicide.

"Today, on the occasion of World Mental Health Day, I would like, to remember our brothers and sisters affected by mental disorders and also the victims, often young, of suicide," he prayed.

"Let us pray for them and for their families, so that they are not left alone or discriminated against, but welcomed and supported."

Source

• ODT
• Rome Reports
• Image: Delphis Learning

Harrison, who is the Dunedin police chaplain, says there are many shortages across the diverse field of chaplaincy, including among Catholic chaplains.

Chaplains play a crucial role, including being part of the overall response to traumatic incidents, such as the recent Dunedin supermarket knife attack, he says.

Otago's first chaplaincy lecturer, the Very Rev Dr Graham Redding, says New Zealanders call on chaplains often.

The demand for their services " — be they paid and unpaid, secular and religious — across sectors ranging from the military to healthcare to education to sports and the arts, exceeds supply," he says.

In his view, suitable training and credentialling is "crucial".

Despite New Zealand becoming an increasingly secular society, people remain interested in issues of faith, meaning and spirituality.

Events of "deep personal significance,"which can often be traumatic, could trigger such interests, Redding says.

Since 2016, Otago University has offered a postgraduate certificate, postgraduate diploma and a masters in chaplaincy. These are the only specific university qualifications in chaplaincy offered in New Zealand.

While various academic staff teach the programme, Redding is the first person to be hired specifically as an Otago lecturer in chaplaincy.

Many organisations see the value of chaplaincy for enhancing the wellbeing of those who come under their care and employment, Redding says.

Schools, tertiary institutions, hospitals, hospices and retirement homes, the military, police and corrections facilities, professional sports teams and the media all have chaplains, he says.

Redding has been the master of Dunedin's Knox College since 2015. He is a former moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand (2008-10) and was principal of the Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership in Dunedin (2007-14).

His five-year, fixed-term post - which began this week - is funded by the Longview Trust and the Presbyterian Synod of Otago and Southland.

Source

• Otago Daily Times
• Image: University of Otago

The study undertaken during lockdown is providing a glimpse into New Zealand's mental health. Young people in particular found it hard-going.

The study results were reported in a research paper,'Psychological distress, anxiety, family violence, suicidality, and wellbeing in New Zealand during the COVID-19 lockdown: a cross-sectional study', which was published in the international journal, PLOS ONE.

The Otago University study involved a survey of 2000 people taken in April. Besides almost 40 percent of respondents reporting low wellbeing, the researchers also found about a third of them reported moderate-to-high distress.

About a third of New Zealanders reported significant distress, with rates in younger people (18-34 years) being higher than for older people.

Just over 47 percent of 18 to 24 year olds reported to have severe levels of psychological distress.

More people reported feeling suicidal and there were higher rates of family violence during lockdown too.

There was no difference by ethnicity in the way lockdown affected people: 6.1 percent reported suicidal ideation, with 2.1 percent making active plans, and the same proportion reported having made a suicide attempt.

This was more common among young people, however.

Rates of distress among women and men were similar, which is unusual as often women report higher levels of distress.

The study also found one in five New Zealanders increased their usual drinking habits over lockdown.

The results of the survey provide an interesting snapshot of people's self-reported psychological distress, anxiety and suicidality captured at the 'peak' of the early lockdown period, says Associate Professor Janet Fanslow from The University of Auckland.

She would like to see mental health and family violence response systems resourced to respond to increased need during times of lockdown.

In her opinion Covid-19 response and post-crisis recovery plans need to promote women's economic empowerment and address gender inequalities in employment and social protection systems.

This will require systemic change to address the underlying causes of mental health issues and family violence whether the country is in lockdown or not.

Setting up such a change would require investment in and implementation of evidence-based prevention strategies to prevent family violence, Fanslow says.

Clinical psychologist Dr Dougal Sutherland says the stresses affecting people during lockdown were probably from more than one source.

"Although the study couldn't tell us exactly what about the lockdown people found stressful, it is likely that a combination of health anxiety and worry about the potential economic consequences of Covid-19 played a role," he says.

Dr Susanna Every-Palmer from Otago University says not all the consequences of the lockdown were negative.

Many (62 percent of respondents enjoyed 'silver linings' the lockdown offered: working from home, spending more time with family and living in a quieter, less polluted environment.

"Governments should make providing mental health support a similar priority to other health measures, such as contact tracing, provision of personal protective equipment and procurement of ventilators," she says.

Source

• RNZ
• Image: University Hospitals

For counselling and support

• Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time
• Lifeline - 0800 543 354
• Samaritans - 0800 726 666
• Chinese Lifeline - 0800 888 880
  (for people who speak Mandarin or Cantonese)
• Youthline - 0800 376 633, free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz
  (for young people, and their parents, whanau and friends)
• What's Up - 0800 942 8787
  (for 5-18 year olds; 1 pm to 11 pm)
• The Lowdown - visit the website, email team@thelowdown.co.nz or free text 5626 (emails and text messages will be responded to between 12 noon and 12 midnight)
• SPARX - an online self-help tool that teaches young people the key skills needed to help combat depression and anxiety.

In a well known example, William Rutherford Waddell found great inequalities and deprivation in the St. Andrew's parish of Dunedin during an economic downturn in the 1880s.

He was determined the church should make a difference in society.

He denounced the "sin of cheapness" in an 1888 sermon and criticised conditions of women textile workers who worked long hours in poor conditions for less than a living wage.

Following a campaign covered in the Otago Daily Times, in 1889 Waddell helped to establish the Tailoresses Union, which was New Zealand's first female trade union.

In the recently published report Making a Difference, (PDF), Richard Davis shares the results of his research into how faith-based organisations (FBOs) can contribute on today's social issues and effectively engage with national and local government in our own times.

Davis asks how FBOs can be a positive voice in social policy debates, and whether the government takes churches seriously in these discussions.

He also explores how FBOs might build better relationships with the policy community, and how they might assemble the information, data and research capacity needed to support evidence-based and robust contributions to political debates.

As Davis notes, there is a perception that churches are no longer central in public life, and no longer have an influence on social issues.

In the words of one commentator: "The church at the moment is relatively ineffective. She has a wide extension and a certain pervading influence but her action is not changing history at depth nor is she meeting the challenges of our time with the energy and speed necessary to save humanity from catastrophe.

Her potential is greater than that of any other institution or school of thought or way of life known to man - and yet so little happens."

Many might read the above and see it as a fair summary of the issues FBOs are facing today.

Yet, as Davis notes, this passage from Ormond Burton is not dated 2019 but 1970. How churches and FBOs can best adapt to their place in society is not a new question.

In the report, Davis sheds light on how FBOs seek to navigate and overcome the obstacles they face.

In practice, FBOs such as the Salvation Army, World Vision, Caritas, Tearfund, Presbyterian Support, Christian World Service and many others make a huge contribution to social wellbeing in New Zealand and overseas.

They find widespread support in wider society for their relief and service work. Yet, discussion of policy issues by FBOs and churches is a much more sensitive matter, even when the policy issues have a direct bearing on social welfare.

If FBOs and churches are to contribute effectively to social change, and not just provide social support, they must find ways to address policy makers on political matters.

Making a Difference: Faith-Based Organisations Contributing to Social Change in Aotearoa was originally commissioned from Otago's Centre for Theology and Public Issues by the Bishop's Action Foundation (BAF), to offer insights into how BAF can work most effectively.

The wisdom and experience shared by the interviewees has been used to shape and guide BAF strategy in its ongoing work for local communities in Taranaki.

With the launch of the University of Otago's new master's degree on "Faith-Based Leadership and Management" this year, this report is now published as an open-access resource for Otago students and the general public. It is available for reading or download from the Otago University Research Archive.

The interviews for the report were completed in 2013, and there have been important changes in Aotearoa New Zealand and around the globe over the years 2013-19.

On the global agenda there is a new awareness of the global challenges raised by climate change and migration.

At a national level, child poverty, housing, and family violence are all receiving more public attention. Jacinda Ardern became Prime Minister, following the election of September 2017, and a new coalition government became part of the political landscape.

Yet, despite these important changes, there is much in the report that remains as relevant now as it did then.

Davis does not provide simple answers, but his work will stimulate a deeper discussion on how FBOs can confront the challenges they face and contribute to the common good.

• Prof David Tombs is the Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues at Otago University Centre for Theology and Public Issues.

First published in the ODT. Reproduced with permission.

For me as a professor of religion and chair of a department, I wonder about how best to "pitch" a religion major to undergraduate students, many of whom come into college thinking about—in too many cases more like obsessing about—pre-formed and fairly rigid professional aspirations and trajectories.

Forget about learning for learning's sake, the life of the mind, or the enriching freedom of being "undeclared."

The politicians tell them, their parents tell them, and their schools tell them: figure out your career.

That makes it very difficult to promote religion, or better, religious studies, to students.

• Political science major? Clear path to law school.
• Biology? Premed.
• Economics major? An entrepreneur in the making.

Those majors make sense and lead students on a well-trodden path from student to professional, from youth to adult, from dependence to independence.

At least that is what they hope and their families are banking on.

So they are a "tough sell" as they say in the business, and require a proactive if not proselytizing move to bring more sheep into the Religious Studies fold.

A religion major?

Unfortunately we have history working against us, as the assumption that studying religion means being religious is burrowed deep in our culture and impossible to avoid.

Everyone thinks that if you study religion you're planning to be a priest.

However, as we all know, people like — no love — to talk about religion, whether they are for it, against it, or somewhere in between.

So when folks hear that religious studies exists as a major or an option in graduate studies, they are often pleasantly surprised, though others have been offended by the very idea.

I'm getting ready to teach religion and sexuality in the fall.

This will be the third go round with the course and enrolment is already up to 200 students, who seem to be very interested.

The topic, of course, sells itself for 18 to 22-year-olds. What is not so self-evident, and therefore the point of the pitch I will have to make, is that the study of religion may be one of the most significant and rewarding intellectual pursuits in a college education.

• Is it "relevant"?
• Does it have "practical" value?
• Is it a "stepping stone" to adult professional life?

To help answer these urgent questions, I present my top five reasons to study religion.

1. It will help you get a job and make lots of money.
2. It will blow your mind.
3. It can be used to make the world a better place.
4. It's a social magnet: people love more than ever to talk about religion.
5. Knowledge is power. Continue reading

• Gary Laderman is Chair of the Department of Religion, Emory University and Editor of Sacred Matters Magazine