Sometimes all it takes is a conversation.
A new project in Hurstville aims to talk with community members about their mental health and help link them with wellbeing services in their area.
The Assisting Communities through Direct Connection (ACDC) Project are not typical door knockers. They make contact via friendly ‘People Connectors’ who let people know about the free services available and deliver an information pack with a fridge magnet and brochures.
People Connector Kathy Ren hopes that people from all backgrounds will engage with the Project.
“The unique thing about the ACDC Project in Hurstville is that Hurstville has such a diverse population. We have met householders that come from so many different cultural and language backgrounds. It will surely help to recognise the needs of CALD [Culturally and Linguistically Diverse] community.”
The ACDC Project, run by Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA), is visiting over 20 sites in Australia to improve community wellbeing and collect important data.
CMHA is working with local service provider, Stride Mental Health, to doorknock in Hurstville from now to July 2022.
For each of the communities visited throughout Australia, the ACDC Project will generate data and information about why people do not access support from local services.
People Connector Jenny Guo hopes the Project will create an understanding of the barriers people face when trying to access services.
“There are often many reasons different cultural groups do not access or seek help like cultural factors, stigma, language, accessibility concerns, and many more. I believe the better we can pinpoint the barriers and the potential reasons behind them, the closer we are to bridging and addressing these gaps in the community.”
Feedback is collected via the ACDC survey, which is available in English, Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, and Italian. The findings of the ACDC Project evaluation report, released later this year, will also evaluate how effective a proactive approach is in reaching, engaging, and resourcing people to connect with services.
“The ACDC Project aims to address a serious problem with mental health services in Australia. Often, people only look for or receive support when they are in crisis. We must be much more proactive in connecting and communicating with people about the importance of wellbeing. Prevention and early intervention are far more effective than dealing with people in crisis,” says CEO of CMHA, Bill Gye.
The ACDC Project provides this essential information to householders of all educational, cultural and language backgrounds to promote access to mental health, social and emotional wellbeing support.
If the householder is not home a card is left in their letterbox with contact details so they can ask the People Connectors to come back.
The ACDC Project is funded by the Department of Social Services.
For more information go to www.acdc.org.au
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