On Monday the 29th November, in partnership with Inspire, the WA Commissioner for Children and Young People, Michelle Scott, spoke to young people from across the country about mental health services for young people, through an online forum on ReachOut.com.
The forum gave young people the opportunity to tell the Commissioner where and how they would access help and information if they were worried about their mental health or that of a friend.
Many young people also spoke about their experiences and frustrations where their mental health concerns were voiced but not taken seriously by others, or where confidentially had not been upheld by a support person they trusted.
Another key challenge young people spoke about was the transition from online support to face-to-face counselling, and the need for better links between the two avenues of support.
The Commissioner valued the opportunity to hear personally about young people’s experiences as much as they enjoyed the opportunity to share them with her.
The Inspire Foundation and young people around the country are grateful to have had the opportunity to talk to the Commissioner about these hugely important issues. As one ReachOut.com forum member put it,
The Inspire Foundations is continually striving to ensure that our work remains relevant to the ever-changing lives of young people through their direct involvement.
This is just one of the reasons why Inspire is embarking on developing ReachOut.com of the future. Please visit our ReachOut NexGn blog for details of this work.
The forum gave young people the opportunity to tell the Commissioner where and how they would access help and information if they were worried about their mental health or that of a friend.
“Quite often though I would use the internet (in particular search engines) as a first resource - it's simple to use, available whenever you need it, and can provide helpful suggestions of where yourself or a friend can go.” From ReachOut.com Forums, November 29th.
Many young people also spoke about their experiences and frustrations where their mental health concerns were voiced but not taken seriously by others, or where confidentially had not been upheld by a support person they trusted.
“Sometimes people dismiss issues and don’t want to take it seriously when someone tells them because they don’t know how to approach it. I had a lot of people tell me I was lying or overreacting, this is why I stayed quiet for ages.” From ReachOut.com Forums, November 29th.
Another key challenge young people spoke about was the transition from online support to face-to-face counselling, and the need for better links between the two avenues of support.
The Commissioner valued the opportunity to hear personally about young people’s experiences as much as they enjoyed the opportunity to share them with her.
“It is very clear from the comments made last night that a blend of services needs to be available - from online information to school-based support and specialist treatment”, the Commissioner said.
“We also need to be actively seeking out the views of young people and hear from them first-hand about what more needs to be done.”
The Inspire Foundation and young people around the country are grateful to have had the opportunity to talk to the Commissioner about these hugely important issues. As one ReachOut.com forum member put it,
“I think talking to young people about what matters to them and the services that they would be willing to access is a really great start. Given that resources are always limited and it can be so hard to make sure that everyone's needs are met - it really sucks when services aren't accessible, engaging or appropriate for YP. And I guess the only way to know what is going to work is to ask. Which is why I think this conversation tonight is awesome.”
The Inspire Foundations is continually striving to ensure that our work remains relevant to the ever-changing lives of young people through their direct involvement.
This is just one of the reasons why Inspire is embarking on developing ReachOut.com of the future. Please visit our ReachOut NexGn blog for details of this work.
