sophie potter: beyond professionals - young people supporting each other

Beyond ProfessionalsYoung people supporting each other

Sophie Potter Community Manager

Gail Phelps Peer Moderator

Jordan Hammond Peer Moderator

Online Youth Engagement and

Participation Conference: 9th May 2013

Our mission To help young people lead happier lives

1992 19981996

2000 - 2008

Inspire Foundation

1997

2009 - 2012

15years of

It’s always been about young people helping themselves…

1998

1999

2001

2006

2009

2009

But in 2010, we took a long, hard look at which young people we wanted to focus on, and how we needed to position ourselves to achieve this.

So we invited over 100 young people to meet our “users”, map out their needs, and help us redesign the service…

And we ended up with…

Guiding principles: Focus on the benefits to me and my friends; Be relevant to me and my life; Reach out to me in places where I am – both online & offline

User experience goals: RO helps me understand my experience; RO gives me a range of actionable help options; RO shows me results; RO connects me to others; RO helps me help others; RO gives me a range of options to get involved

Brand Values: Authentic; Trustworthy; Positive; Encouraging; Friendly; Inclusive

Design Principles: clean and simple; quick and easy; flexibility in information delivery; flexibility in engagement; creative; consistency

User benefits: Accepted; Confident; Happy; Reassured; Hopeful; Relieved; Motivated; Better than before; More aware of myself

Brand voice: ReachOut is a 25 year old male. He's a good friend and a casual expert. He's easy to understand; Friendly; Honest; Not pushy; Optimistic; Respectful; Empathetic; Fun

Suicide rates aren’t accelerating like they once were, but the mental health system still struggles to meet the needs of young people

The policy context

“A real challenge exists with our mental health services at the moment. They're not easily accessible and we don't have enough professionals, particularly in our regional, rural, remote communities. Technologies provide us with a way of connecting anyone anywhere with a person who can help them.”

Assoc Prof Jane Burns

CEO Young and Well Cooperative

Research Centre (2012)

How can we bridge the gap?

• Reduce the burden on limited services

• Extend accessibility of mental health services

• Improve understanding of mental health difficulties

• Decrease stigma and improve motivation to access services

“Because you can't see it, it's not real. Unless I'm in physical pain, there's no reason to go seek help.”

- ReachOut.com focus group participant

Drag picture to placeholder or click icon to add

ReachOut.com is:

An online mental health community where young people can connect, grow and thrive

Accessible 24/7,

wherever they need it

ReachOut.com targets…1. Mental Health Promotion and Universal Prevention;

2. Selective and Indicated Prevention; and

3. Early intervention.

The theory bit

Protective factors, such as:

• Sense of belonging• Adaptive coping strategies

• Help-seeking behaviour• Mental health literacy

How we help: Universal audience

that help young people connect their experiences to those of others

Personal stories

that provide information and knowledge needed to positively manage wellbeing

Articles + fact sheets

that share and build knowledge / skills for building + managing wellbeing

Conversations

where young people participate in campaigns and related activities that raise awareness + increase understanding about mental health

Campaigns + participation

How we help: Selected / indicated audiences

that help young people recognise their problem + increase their understanding

Personal stories + fact sheets

that increase positive attitudes towards help-seeking and the belief that timely / appropriate support can be effective

Stories

that increases participation in a positive social support network, leading to improved self esteem and resilience

Community participation

that helps young people increase self awareness, self monitoring and problem solving skills

How we help: Early intervention

that help young people recognise symptoms + provide actionable help

Personal stories + fact sheets

that increase positive attitudes towards help-seeking and the belief that timely / appropriate support can be effective

Stories

that connect young people with a social support network + link young people seeking help to information and services

Online forums

We know this because…

ReachOut.com helps

1.4 million unique visitors to ReachOut.com in 2011/2012, & 664,332 engaged users = 27% increase on the previous year

Almost 50% of young people we interact with on social channels are young men, those who need us most.

50% of these visits take place after 5pm and before 9am

77% of young people who use ReachOut.com register high or very high levels of psychological distress.

75% of young people who used ReachOut.com in 2011 reported that it helped them to better understand mental health issues

Nearly half (46%) said it helped them ‘quite a bit’ or ‘a lot’ to ask a professional for help.

Where we are:

*

ReachOut.com

Community forums

Social media

• Flagship service

• 14-25 years• 1.4 million

unique visitors (2011/12)

• Facts sheets, personal stories, tools, tips, peer support

• Topics from wellbeing to tough times

• Component of ReachOut.com

• 1255 active members

• Anonymous and private

• Peer support• Discussions

range from wellbeing to tough times

• 17,396 facebook followers

• 5581 twitter followers

• 276 YouTube subscribers (149k views)

• Focus on wellbeing and engagement

IT’S RISKY!!!!!

These conversations are happening with or without us.

For us, the biggest risk is not being there.

Online forums and risk management

• Anonymity and privacy

• Peer-to-peer support

• Clear boundaries re. extent of service

• (Post) moderation by youth moderators and professionals

• Three risk management strategies:• Technical

• Self-moderation

• Staff moderation

Community risk management strategies

TECHNICAL• Register/sign to post• Member accounts display no

person info• Automatic ”alert words or

phrases” notifications• Clear announcements around

extent of service

SELF MODERATION

• Community guidelines – outline positive behaviours and extent of service

• Culture• Feedback from moderators if

guidelines breached• Reporting function for forum

users

PEER/PRO MODs

• Trained peer moderators model positive behaviours

• proactively hide or report Professional moderators respond to distressed young people or difficult content

• Sensitive discussions/topics facilitated by youth workers or mental health professionals

• Clear escalation procedures

Governance/Risk Management Structures

Peer & Pro Mods

Staff Moderators

Support Group

Clinical Advisory Group CEO

Youth ModeratorsReachOut.com

Who are youth moderators, anyway?

• Currently 16 youth moderators across Australia

• All from different backgrounds

• All with a desire to contribute to the youth mental health community

• Each volunteers two hours per week

So, what do youth moderators actually do?

• Contribute to the forums

• Listen to users

• Moderate content and manage risk

• Maintain a positive help seeking culture

But how does having youth moderators actually help?

• Promotes individual experience, but a shared understanding of that experience

• Places young people as the experts

• Provides peer based empathy and support

• Generates positive and constructive conversations

How do youth moderators promote healthy help seeking?

• By providing examples of their own help seeking behaviours

• Using empathy and support to encourage and promote the importance of help seeking

• Providing links to relevant and trustworthy information

• Being community role models

Youth Involvement (YI) at Inspire

• From the beginning, young people were at the centre of everything Inspire does

• Youth mods are part of a wider YI program

• 120 people: RO Film Crew, Youth Editorial Board, ROMP, RO Speakers Bureau etc

• Private online community forum for all involved with our YI programs

Cool stuff that’s happened!

- RUOK? Day- LIFE Awards- ACARA consult

- 315 YP- Mark Butler MP,

Minister for Mental Health

- Two consultations

- Second: 260 replies over 90,000 and 15,000

- First: let’s watch

Young people tell us

“I never thought that a silly post about my feelings on an internet forum could end up being the start to a new change. I have realized that I can recover from this and I thank you so much for pushing me in the right direction. I feel that I will get through this.”

“Veronica”, 19yo, 15th March 2013