Mental Health Literacy
INFORMATION HUB
Welcome to the Healthy North Coast Mental Health Literacy Information Hub. Thank you for being a participant in this project. Your expertise and knowledge are very important to improving mental health literacy across the North Coast region.
Thank you to those who participated in the first two workshops.
This will be our opportunity to test feedback to-date and prioritise solutions.
We are developing a tool/resource based on the solutions you have prioritised.
August 2022 Workshops 1 and 2
Thank you to those who participated in the first two workshops. By sharing your experiences and exploring practical solutions, we better understand the barriers to finding health information and accessing mental health services that work for different people. This will help us explore what we can do to remove these barriers.
Workshop resources:
- Discussion guides for Workshop 1 and Workshop 2
- Before Workshop 2, participants were invited to watch a short video about Workshop 1 as well as read a visual slide deck outlining the approach to Workshop 2
- We used personas as a framework to facilitate discussion for potential solutions. The personas used were examples of individual experiences and journey to identify something might not feel quite right and where they may seek mental health care or support. These personas were not based on a single person’s experience, but rather highlight the needs of people experiencing common scenarios or circumstances
- For a quick summary of what we have already done, please have a look at our Project Summary – September 2022
October 2022 Feedback loop
The feedback loop was an opportunity for us to test that we heard and captured experiences correctly and to prioritise solutions that will move into the product development workshops.
The purpose of the feedback loop was to:
- Support Panel members who haven’t been involved in the process so far to review the findings and add their own experiences and ideas
- Support those who have been involved in workshop 1 and 2 to check that we’ve interpreted their contributions correctly
- Support local sector stakeholders (e.g. service providers) to contribute their perspectives on the mental health literacy needs of their community and potential solutions identified by the panel
- Prioritise the potential solutions that emerged in workshop 2 to inform what solutions are progressed and developed into ‘products’ in the next phase of the co-design process
What was covered in the feedback loop?
To review what was covered in the feedback loop, you can:
- Watch this short video webinar (25 minutes)
- Review the feedback loop presentation slides separately
- We asked people to share their thoughts on what was presented through an online survey, which closed on 16 October 2022.
The people who were invited to participate in the feedback loop were members of the Lived Experience Panel and Healthy North Coast Service Providers.
What did we hear in the feedback loop results?
12 people provided a detailed response to the feedback loop, with 9 of these responses coming from members of the Lived Experience Panel. Thanks to those who shared their insights with us.
Some of the things we heard in the feedback loop were:
- Overall, people agreed that what was shared in the feedback loop reflected their experiences and what they might need when recognising a mental health challenge or asking for help.
- Most people supported each of the potential solutions — a couple of people disagreed with only a few of the solutions.
- There were a range of specific tools or resources suggested could meet people’s needs under each potential solution.
- Any tool/resource that is developed should focus on connecting people with local supports as much as possible
- Any tool/resource that is developed should recognise that people’s needs and preferences for support will be different, and it should acknowledge that people are seeking holistic support.
- We should avoid duplicating tools or resources that already exist, rather, we could build on or extend the reach of what already exists.
- Opportunities for people to share their lived experience and to learn from the lived experience of others are important in any product that is developed.
These findings will help the development of the first tool or resource in the next stage of the project.
There were also some ideas that were raised that related to other aspects of mental health literacy, such as improving mental health services or delivering training to the community. These suggestions have also been captured and many are linked into other pieces of work that is underway in the North Coast region.
November to December 2022 Product development
With lots of tools and resources suggested, Healthy North Coast has considered what was most important to focus on first. We considered the level of support for each solution indicated by the Lived Experience Panel in the feedback loop, as well as how achievable it might be to develop and maintain. The solution that we are working on in the product development stage is ‘strategies for self-care’
What was covered in the product development workshop?
Thank you to those who contributed their thoughts and ideas at the product development workshop on 18 November 2022. The purpose of the workshop was to identify the specific ‘strategies for self-care’ tools/resources that will be developed as part of this project and consider the following:
- Content for the tool/resource — what information does it include and how is it structured?
- Design principles — what should the tool/resource look and feel like?
- Distribution methods — how can we reach people with the tool/resource?
What tool/resource will be developed?
Informed by the contributions of participants in the product development workshop, as well as the suggestions shared through previous workshops and the feedback loop, it was determined that a ‘self-care webpage’ will be developed. The self-care webpage will be hosted on the Healthy North Coast website and include:
- Information on what self-care is and why it is important
- A self-care planning guide – this guide will step someone through how to develop a personalised self-care plan and provide a template that people can complete, download and share with their loved ones and supporters
- Gallery of self-care strategies – a range of self-care strategies that have been submitted by people in the North Coast community with lived experience of mental health challenges and who want to share their self-care strategy with others
- A place to ‘Submit your self-care strategy’ – this will allow people in the community the opportunity to submit their self-care strategies in an ongoing way, contributing to the development of a diverse and rich gallery of self-care strategies
- Links to other relevant resources – connecting people to further information and supports
It is expected that the webpage will be made available in early 2023. The webpage will be shared with members of the Lived Experience Panel once it goes live.
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we live and work, the Bundjalung, Arakwal, Yaegl, Gumbaynggirr, Githabul, Dunghutti and Birpai Nations, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future.
