Trailblazers

 Unquestionably, the greatest outcome from International Trailblazers has been the meeting of like-minded people who care passionately about mental health in primary care from a wide variety of health and geographical perspectives"
- David Shiers (a Birmingham GP)

Trailblazers is a mental health leadership programme that aims to strengthen relationships and trust between primary and secondary mental health specialists to support service users in having their needs met in a variety of settings. This GP-led initiative is supported in New Zealand by Te Pou's Workforce Programme.

About Trailblazers

Trailblazers was established in the United Kingdom in 1996 by Professor Andre Tylee and Trailblazers UK is now lead by Dr Anand Chitnis. Dr Chitnis identifies the three purposes of Trailblazers as; personal development, professional development and project (organisational) development - all with the end goal of better mental health services and better outcomes for service users.

The programme involves the pairing of a primary health professional with one working in a secondary mental health service. Each pair develops a project to implement and evaluate. These projects address barriers to mental health service users accessing quality services across a range of settings. Live-in workshops are held to support the development of these projects and workshop content is determined by the specific learning needs of the group.

There are many examples of how this pairing has worked internationally to help improve the lives of people experiencing mental health issues. Equally, there are many testimonials to the motivational aspects of the course and the positive effects it has had on workforce retention.

International Trailblazers

In 2006, the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL) facilitated the development of an International Trailblazers programme involving participants from the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, with Dr Chitnis as lead tutor. The international programme was run over the three year period 2006-2008, with a new group of Trailblazers each year.

New Zealand Trailblazers

Te Pou is continuing to support New Zealand participants from the 2006-2008 International Trailblazers programme and look forward to showcasing the achievements of these pairs and their projects in the coming months.

June 2009 workshop

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s Trailblazing we go...

Te Pou recently hosted a follow-up workshop for past New Zealand participants in the International Trailblazers programme.

The workshop was held over the weekend of 19-21 June at the Te Pou offices in Auckland. Participants enjoyed guest presentations by Robyn Shearer, Te Pou Chief Executive; Fran Silvestri, Director, IIMHL; and Anita Langthaller, Senior Researcher, Te Pou. The highlight of the workshop was a videoconference presentation by UK based Anand Chitnis, International and UK Trailblazers lead tutor.

The focus of the workshop was on progressing, evaluating and promoting the outcomes of projects. These had been developed and implemented by each Trailblazer as part of their involvement in the first two workshops.

Te Pou will continue to support the Trailblazers in evaluation planning and promoting their projects. Te Pou will also look at ways to create ongoing discussion and support opportunities via an electronic medium such as a social networking site or web-based discussion forum.

Handy links

• Presentations from the February 2008 Trailblazers meeting including Dr Anand Chitnis, UK Trailblazers Lead, Sarah Dwyer from the Ministry of Health, and Anil Thapliyal from Lifeline Aotearoa.
• Read more about Trailblazers. (PDF)
• Read about IIMHL here. (PDF)
• Visit the IIMHL website. The 2007 IIMHL annual report is now available.

Key contacts

For more information about Trailblazers please contact Denise Whitfield, primary mental health project coordinator, Te Pou.

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Page last updated: 28 September 2009