Our Community Programs
in rural and regional areas
Support for mental health in regional areas has never been more important.
The Resilience Project fosters a place-based, whole community approach to building community resilience and preparedness, targeting areas of greatest disaster vulnerability and/or mental health needs.
The state of mental health in rural and regional locations
Research tells us young people are suffering from mental ill-health in Australia, with a disproportionate weighting to rural and region locations. A preventative approach is the key to tackling our mental health crisis, which drives us to continue this important work within the communities that need it most.Â
In regional Australia, the prevalence of mental illness is just as high, if not higher, compared to inner-city locations. However, as areas get more remote, there is significantly reduced access to mental health care and services (National Rural Health Alliance, 2017). Additionally, rates of suicide and self-harm are significantly higher in remote and rural areas, and increase with increasing remoteness (Harrison & Henley, 2014).
A preventative mental-health approach, like our program, is the key to equipping people with the tools to experience positive emotions, so they are more likely to cope in challenging times.
This drives us to continue this important work within the communities that need it most.Â
1 in 4
Primary students are suffering from mental ill health.
1 in 3
Secondary students are suffering from Mental ill health.
65%
of adolescents do not seek help.
What is our community approach?
Our community approach is scalable, replicable and sustainable, testament by the 29 communities we have worked across Australia over the last three years. These communities alone represent 225 schools, 74,000 students and 4000 educators.
1. Raise Awareness
2. Embed Behaviours
3. Measure Impact
We partner with local stakeholders ((ie. local council, community organisation or DET wellbeing personnel) to collaboratively engage with 6-12 schools and understand the local context. We launch the program locally with a series of community events/ presentations, designed to build capacity in the educators, and inspire a common awareness.
The holistic program continues to embed behavioural change in educators, students, parents and carers through the robust annual teaching and learning program and is periodically measured through The Resilient Youth Survey.
We proactively equip people with the tools to better navigate the challenging times as they inevitably arise. It builds skills to support and instill positive mental wellbeing and prevent poor mental health.
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Communities we've worked with
QLD:
- CairnsÂ
- MackayÂ
- Moranbah
- Moura
- Townsville
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NSW:
- Broken Hill
- Eugowra
- Forbes
- Gwydir
- Hawksbury
- Inverell
- Maitland
- Mid Coast
- Moree
- Murrumbidgee
- Narrabri
- Northern Tablelands
- Orange
- Penrith
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VIC:
- Ararat
- Bairnsdale
- Geelong
- Greater Shepparton
- Hume
- Lakes Entrance
- Mansfield
- Mildura
- Sale
- South Gippsland
- Stawell
- Towong
- Warrnambool
- Wodonga
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The impact of this approach
The program has been evaluated by University of Adelaide and University of Melbourne, achieving favourable and cumulative impact across social, emotional and physical wellbeing. In the North Queensland case study, it found the program improved their students’ mental health, as well as improvement in engagement, life satisfaction and hopefulness.
The preliminary results of the latest Monash University research spoke to the beneficial and cumulative impact of having a longer term commitment to the TRP wellbeing program, noting a 20% reduction in symptoms of anxiety and a 31% reduction in symptoms of depression for schools who had been doing the program for 6-7 years.
Read more and testimonials
"Martin was exceptional and perfect for what we needed here at Molong- the barriers are down amongst the kids and more importantly, the staff are just as positive. Martin is a bona fide legend. Thanks again for going the extra yard for us."
"Thank you so much for a fabulous 10 weeks in the Alpine Shire. The last 3 days with Martin have been outstanding. What a bundle of energy and inspiration. We had a brilliant 3 night series with 100 people in Bright, 120 in Myrtleford and 100 in Mount Beauty. I'm super pleased with these numbers. It was a pleasure working with you all!"
"The presentations by Martin were fantastic and you could see that for some kids there was a profound impact just off the back of them. The important work that we do to follow up with the Resilience Project implementation has got a lot of support and motivation."
"As I’ve expressed numerous times over the past 12 months it has been an absolute pleasure to work with you on the delivery of TRP for the LGA’s within the Northeast of Murray PHN catchment. This has been such an impactful piece of work across the communities in which it was delivered".
