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	A mobile mental health service operates in west Cork as part of an initiative to help people recover outside traditional mental-health services</h2>
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		Is it a bus? It is truck? Nope, it&rsquo;s a mobile mental health service. A bright blue bus rolls through the towns and villages of west Cork as part of an initiative to help people recover outside traditional mental-health services.</p>
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		The wellness bus &ndash; known as Cumas&uacute;, the Irish for &ldquo;empower&rdquo; &ndash; can be spotted across the region at festivals, markets or simply because a community has asked for it to visit.</p>
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		<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_person=Michael%20Bambrick&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">Michael Bambrick</a>, director of nursing with HSE South&rsquo;s west Cork mental health services, says the bus also brings people together by using the bus as a space for creative and artistic purposes.</p>
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		&ldquo;The wellness bus is about promoting social inclusion by utilising the bus as a space for creative and novel initiatives,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The activities and events are varied with gardening groups, men&rsquo;s shed, art workshops, yoga classes, music groups, stress-management workshops, carer&rsquo;s support groups, parenting programmes, trialogue&rsquo;s and wellness movie nights.&rdquo;</p>
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		Staff on the bus provide advice on services available across the community that promote physical, mental and social wellbeing.</p>
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		&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll never tackle the area of mental health unless we all take responsibility for it,&rdquo; says&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_person=Pat%20Murphy&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">Pat Murphy</a>&nbsp;of the National Learning Network in west Cork. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s where the idea of a community wellness programme came..&rdquo;</p>
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		Cumas&uacute; is an initiative undertaken by the West Cork Mental Health Services, the National Learning Network,&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_organisation=RehabCare&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">RehabCare</a>, and the West Cork Development Partnership.<br />
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		<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/wellness-bus-becomes-vehicle-for-conversation-about-positive-mental-health-1.1463312">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/wellness-bus-becomes-vehicle-for-conversation-about-positive-mental-health-1.1463312</a></p>
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