Recognising the significant role technology plays in the lives
of young people, Reach Out Pro provides access and
advice for health care professionals on a range of technologies and
online resources that can be used to enhance the effectiveness of
the psychosocial support and mental health care provided to young
people.
Reach Out Pro encourages health care professionals to
become acquainted with new technologies and their significance to
young people and to integrate the use of technology into their
practice to better meet the needs of young people and ultimately
improve mental health outcomes.
"We need to shift how we are doing our work… I mean if John
Howard and Kevin Rudd have MySpace and Youtube… we will have to
look to change how we engage and use technology to do our jobs with
young people."
Reach Out Pro Health Care Professional Consultations, March
2008.
Reach Out Pro is closely linked to ReachOut.com to help provide young people
with access to an online community and trusted information and
advice. After 10 years of operation, ReachOut.com now has 55% brand
awareness amongst young people in Australia. Moreover research
indicates most young people will return to ReachOut.com
in tough times.
Reach Out Pro contains two key sections:
Resources
Provides health care professionals with ready access to a broad
range of resources for use with young people experiencing mental
health difficulties. Resources include fact sheets, digital
stories and other online media and many are linked back to ReachOut.com.
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Using technology
Offers practical ideas and advice for using different
technologies in clinical practice through clinician reviews,
interviews and step by step guidance. This section features a
glossary of technological terms and seeks to 'bridge the digital
divide' by explaining what young people are doing online and what
health care professionals need to know, about how to use technology
to enhance engagement and treatment of mental health disorders in
young people.
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