The Multicultural Youth Mental Health Champions project (Mental Health Innovation Grants for CALD Communities)
This project was a collaboration between Each services Enliven and headspace Knox. Through the recruitment of seven multicultural Youth Mental Health Champions, it aimed to support the mental health and wellbeing of multicultural young people through innovative partnerships and meaningful engagement with Chinese, Sri Lankan, and Indian communities in the City of Knox.
Community engagement:
Reached a combined audience of over 2600 community members through different community engagement activities to have discussions about youth mental health, promote headspace services, and deliver Youth Mental Health First Aid training, Tuning into Teens, and youth focussed mental health information sessions.
Connected with over 70 community organisations, businesses, schools, faith groups, and community groups to share information about the project and promote free mental health awareness training (Youth Mental Health First Aid training and Tuning into Teens)
Consulted with 41 community members in focus groups and interviews to gather insights contributing to the development of effective community engagement strategies, activities, and accessible youth mental health resources.
Were guest presenters in three in-language community radio programs to promote the project activities and spark positive conversations about youth mental health and headspace services.
Delivered free mental health capacity building training to multicultural community members:
Delivered 4 cycles of free Youth Mental Health First Aid training to 37 multicultural community members.
Delivered 5 cycles of Tuning into Teens training program in partnership with headspace Knox, headspace Dandenong, and Relationships Australia Victoria to a total of 28 participants from multicultural communities.
Delivered two Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Information sessions to a total of 21 multicultural community members.
88% of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Information session delivered by the project team increased their knowledge of how to recognise signs and symptoms of mental health challenges in young people.
88% of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Information session delivered by the project team increased their confidence to lead a conversation about mental health with others, and check in with others about their mental health.
100% of survey respondents who participated in the Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Information sessions delivered by the project team agreed or strongly agreed that they would be likely to encourage a young person to access support at headspace for their mental health, if needed.
Youth mental health resource development:
Co-designed 3 plain language flyers to support headspace service access and navigation – available in 6 languages.
Produced short videos for social media use to support headspace service access and navigation available in 7 languages.
Project partners:
This initiative is funded by the Australian Government under the PHN program.