Barwon South West Region’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference was held at The Sebel Deep Blue in Warrnambool yesterday with more than 70 in attendance to hear about the benefits of promoting community and workplace resilience to prevent mental illness.

Speakers discussed how the community and workplaces can be proactive in creating environments conducive to positive wellbeing.

National and international experts spoke of how community leaders could promote good mental health and prevent mental illness in business, schools, sporting organisations and workplaces.

Guest speaker Professor Penny Hawe, of the University of Calgary, said Australia was ahead of the curve on mental health awareness but had room for simple improvements. “I’ve been talking about the need for mental health prevention promotion to be accepted by the mainstream as something we should do as part of everyday life,” she said.

“It’s important for people to realise the great strength of walking groups, book clubs and those social connections, because it’s those connections that make us well and look after our well-being. Social connections are like mental health Powerade.”

Aspire’s health promotion and education manager Kim Freeman said prevention principles needed to be applied to mental health in a similar way to obesity and diabetes campaigns.

“At the moment all the funding is directed to the response and treatment end and due focus isn’t being given to prevention and timely and appropriate intervention.”