What do you think of the multicultural mental health page of the main beyondblue website?

[Donte]

Hi all,

If you are from a culturally and linguistically diverse background and haven't browsed through the multicultural mental health page of the main beyondblue website, please take a moment to do so.

If you have looked at it in the past, would you please visit it again and have a fresh look? Beyondblue is hoping to revamp this page with better information and user friendly tools, and are wanting to provide information on various topics such as those listed below:

-the importance of seeking support
-demystify the language by using positive mental health terms
-clarify ideas around mental health conditions to make aware that this is common and can be supported in many different ways
-use language on the site that won’t turn people off such as worry, frustrations etc rather than ‘mental health illness’

I'd like to consult with you and ask you to have a look at the site and provide feedback on this thread as to what you think would be useful and helpful to be included on there.

Let's all work together to make this site a more user-friendly for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and maximize its usage.

Please let me know what you think. Let's share ideas and discuss. 🙂

[Mod note: this post has been updated to include a link to the page being referred to]

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Donte’,

What a great idea 🙂 Thanks for asking for our feedback.

Sorry, I’m in a bit of a rush so only had a quick look. Um, is it under “Multicultural People” as that’s the link that I followed. Can I ask if that’s what you meant?

Anyway, I had a quick browse so my apologies if anything I say is a little irrelevant or shows how I haven’t looked at it in detail.

Assuming that I followed the right link, it looks great 🙂

As for suggestions, I’m not sure if this is feasible in terms of budgeting and finding the right personnel. But I wonder if it would be helpful to have the instructions on how to obtain/download resources in other languages available in multiple languages as well.

I know you can click on links to obtain resources in other languages but the instructions/directions are still in English, which might be a bit of a struggle for some people who are still learning the language or if it’s not their first language.

For example, I have extended family who live in Australia but some of them would struggle with the instructions. So even if resources are available in different languages, they would find it difficult reading the instructions in English that is needed to identity which links to click on, etc.

Hopefully that’s a little helpful 🙂

Thanks Donte’

Pepper

[Hayfa]

Hi Pepper,

Yes you were on the right page of the website and thank you for taking a look at it and providing some very useful feedback.
Do you think that it may be helpful for us to put more written content in there about multicultural health and wellbeing to build awareness of mental health issues?
What type of ideas would be good to convey?

Assuming that young and older adults visited the site for information and support, what would be good for them to see and read on there that will keep them logged on and reading further?

Thanks Pepper and everyone else who can tell us their thoughts.

Hayfa

[Donte]

Hi Pepper,

Thank you for taking the time to have a look. Yes. It's under the 'Multicultural people' section of the website. Thank you for your recommendations. It would be very beneficial if the page, including instructions was in multiple languages (at least the top 20 most spoken as a start). Also, perhaps if it provided links to all the available ethno specific and multicultural organizations that cater for a variety of communities and by clicking one could visit their websites and find out what services they offer. I think organizations like the Centre of Ethnicity and Health and The Centre For Cultural Diversity in Aging plus the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria should also be included.

Perhaps there could be a 'Search' option where people can type a language, and all the relevant resources and services/organizations that provide support in this language/have bilingual/bicultural staff etc could come up and the viewers could look through what is available in their area.

The Centre for Cultural Diversity in Aging has a similar webpage format to what I'm proposing but it's designed for professionals and organizations to receive support and information on how to work with culturally and linguistically diverse people and their families. This same model could be replicated for community members on the Beyondblue site.

Just an idea! 🙂

[Donte]

Hi Hayfa,

I think that's a good idea. We could perhaps include the various ethno specific and multicultural non-for-profit organizations and community centres as links to the page and provide links to the diverse activities they offer in a variety of languages in regards to enhancing wellbeing and mental health. This could include the various exercise classes, dance, elderly citizens clubs, art and excursions etc that contribute to combating social isolation and improving the quality of health of the participants.

We could also include libraries and councils who offer free or low cost events and activities related to improving wellbeing.

[Donte]

Hi Hayfa,

I was browsing through Mental Health in Multicultural Australia and Sane websites and found a few useful resources in various languages. It could be useful if we provided links to these on our page.

Mental Health in Multicultural Australia has useful resources in Amharic, Arabic, Assyrian, Chinese, Croatian, Dari, Dinka, Farsi, Greek, Italian, Khmer, Korean, Krio, Macedonian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swahili, Turkish and Vietnamese.

SANE Australia has resources in Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Vietnamese, Greek, Spanish and Turkish.

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Hayfa,

Thanks for replying and reassuring me that I was on the right page 🙂 Much appreciated

Do you think that it may be helpful for us to put more written content in there about multicultural health and wellbeing to build awareness of mental health issues?

Sure, that seems very helpful except I’m wondering who you’re trying to target e.g. are you trying to build awareness within CALD communities or to increase/raise awareness about multicultural health amongst people who are not from a CALD background?

What type of ideas would be good to convey?

Great but tricky question 🙂

I would suggest cultural sensitivity. Personally, I feel one of the biggest issues for people from a CALD background in Australia is, aside from the language struggles/barrier which is a big one, is stigma.

I mentioned my Asian heritage elsewhere, and in many Asian cultures, mental illness is still considered “shameful.” There is often a cloud of silence (metaphorical and literal) surrounding it.

For example, when I was about 10 years old, I once asked a family member question about a very mentally unwell relative. I was met with stony silence for the next 24 hours. I learnt to never ask again...

So I think challenging the stigma is probably very important. But the tricky part is engaging people from CALD backgrounds by communicating in a way that is culturally appropriate and respectful.

Also there is the issue of trauma of people from CALD backgrounds who came to Australia to escape oppressive political regimes, other cruelty, etc.

Assuming that young and older adults visited the site for information and support, what would be good for them to see and read on there that will keep them logged on and reading further?

Personally, I feel firsthand accounts from people of CALD backgrounds would be helpful. Although I noticed you have a link called “Watch universal stories of healing from depression.”

Perhaps this could be expanded where BeyondBlue has its own mental health/mental illness “stories” or videos by people from CALD backgrounds. I feel the importance of personal anecdotes is it creates a sense of “relateability.”

Also, I feel simplicity is important so making it easy for people from CALD to navigate the site and seek help.

As for younger people, I feel there is the need to engage them on multiple social media platforms. Twitter might be a good one.

Anyway, just my ideas

thank you 🙂

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Donte’,

Thanks for the reply. It’s great to hear from you again and to hear your suggestions 🙂

I liked your suggestion:

Perhaps there could be a 'Search' option where people can type a language, and all the relevant resources and services/organizations that provide support in this language/have bilingual/bicultural staff etc could come up and the viewers could look through what is available in their area.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I felt the language barrier is one of the biggest issues (amongst others) when it comes to seeking help. So your suggestion would contribute to overcoming that issue.

But perhaps I would suggest to make it easier for people to navigate the site that there could prompts like “start here” in “x” language where perhaps the more general resources/background info on mental health/etc could be under that heading. Then it could become more detailed and specific as readers scroll down the page where resources, etc is listed under other subheadings. Again, I feel simplicity and easy navigation is important because if it’s too difficult to navigate, some readers might just give up

Thanks for reading 🙂

Pepper

[Hayfa]

Hi Pepper,

Thank you so much for this great feedback, yes I think ideally the content we put in there should serve both people from a multicultural background looking for support and provide clear, easy to understand information about issues that make the mainstream audience aware of the challenges facing people from multicultural communities.

Certainly making the site more interactive with peer stories is an excellent tool that we will try to incorporate more of it especially with stories that can help to de-stigmatise mental health and having more search functions is an absolutely beneficial tool.

Please keep the wonderful ideas coming.

Hayfa

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Hayfa,

Thank you for reading my posts and for the lovely response 🙂

I’ll let you know if I think of anything.

Pepper