ReachOut.com's Online Community Coordinator, Sophie Potter, will share our unique approach to using online communities in promoting young people's mental health at the 2013 Swarm Conference.

Swarm brings together professional community managers from across Australia to share resources, best practices, information and ideas.

Recently Swarm interviewed Sophie about her thoughts on how online tools are changing the way young people get help for health issues:

"We hear from young people all the time about how much benefit they get from hearing from someone who was once in a similar position to them, but has now made it through to the other side – it’s that sense of hope," said Sophie.

"But it’s not just anecdotal evidence – young people are 20% more likely to seek professional support after visiting our forums. Plus the benefit and power of story telling in boosting a young person’s confidence and self-efficacy in regards to help-seeking and positive change is pretty widely acknowledged," she added.

Read more of Sophie's interview at swarmconference.com.au