The alignment will provide a robust foundation to these two critical areas and enhance their individual and combined initiatives says Wellbeing and Engagement Lead, Dr Toni Minniti.
Four key initiatives underway demonstrate the alignment between Wellbeing and Psychology, the first of which is the newly released Sport Psychology Team Manual, developed to align with HPSNZ’s Wellbeing policy.
Head of Performance Psychology, Dr John Sullivan, says the new manual outlines standard operating procedures and serves as a vital tool to ensure consistent, transparent high-quality support. “This strengthens our ability to serve athletes and NSOs with greater clarity, accountability and alignment to our wider performance mission,” says John.
“The standard operating procedures also act as a strategic amplifier, demonstrating how health, wellbeing and human performance are deeply interconnected and most effective when approached in an integrated, coordinated way.”
Other alignment work includes the rollout of Training to Refer (T2R) which has been co-developed by John, Toni and Bruna Lima, to support athlete-facing staff in a two-hour interactive session to engage and share resources relevant to the high performance environment.
This initiative was piloted with the Wellbeing Community of Practice during their May hui. The training will help athlete-facing staff feel comfortable to refer athletes to HPSNZ registered psychologists and medical health professionals to promote health, wellbeing and performance.
HPSNZ website updates for the Wellbeing Programme and Psychology will be aligned and linked and other resources including Critical Incident Management and the Mental Health referral decision tree and FAQs have been developed.
In addition to the alignment work, the Wellbeing Scan is being rolled out to all podium, aspirational and team sports.
“Podium sports have now completed the Scan and the findings will be used to inform the upcoming NSO health checks,” says Toni. “Surveys for aspirational and team sports are currently underway. This means sports across all sport categories are represented.”
Rounding out what has been an extremely busy time for the Wellbeing team has been the completion of Onboarding Guidance implementation webinars, with Onboarding Guidance currently being developed.
