Inteview with Simon Siewert, digital strategist and
Dylan Norton, Manager, National Depression Initiative
Services, Lifeline Aotearoa, about the Lowdown NZ
service.
As many as one in five people experience depression
in New Zealand, with eight percent of teenagers expected to be
impacted by the mental illness at any given time. As a part of the
country's national depression initiative, Dylan Norton is the
manager of a service called 'Lowdown', a service that aims to be a
contributor to the reduction of suicide rates in New Zealand. Simon
Siewert also worked as a digital strategist and was involved with
the creative development of the Lowdown, and will play a pivotal
rule in its future development.
The Lowdown was launched three years ago following
what could be described as a lack of utilization of mainstream
help-seeking services for depression, with less than ten percent of
overall call volumes coming from the 14-24 demographic. These
findings and figures established the need for a service that would
not only see increased help-seeking from young people, but also the
requirement of a service that engages with young people on levels
that are most relevant to them as well as having a presence at the
spaces where they currently interact. The Lowdown is an "early
intervention service, set up to accommodate those with mild to
medium levels of depression". The spectrum of users typically
ranges from those who may not recognise that they are experiencing
depression, to those who are identified as having high levels of
the mental illness. Siewert's research also found that "from a
marketing and service delivery perspective, traditional
perspectives weren't going to work".
As is the story in Australia, the number of people
who commit suicide in New Zealand in each year (more than 100) is
higher than the countries road toll. The country also has the
second highest rates of suicide in the world. Norton said that
depression "plays a part in a majority of suicide attempts", and
through doing this emphasized the importance of having a campaign
that is specifically focused at depression. Results from the
campaign appear to be driving results, with almost 3,000 young
people utilising the Lowdown through text or e-mail in the six
months to June 2010, the most successful period of the campaign
yet. The figure is likely to increase as the service moves into new
territories and avenues over coming months.
How that campaign is executed though needs to be
continually assessed, as Norton advised of research findings
showing that media coverage can have a negative impact, which
subsequently provides challenges on how issues associated with
suicide can be communicated. Siewert said that the key message for
users of the Lowdown was for them to realise that depression
"wasn't just a part of their personality, their make-up" and that
"there actually is a medical condition that causes this". Research
has also found that young people who were experiencing symptoms of
depression were likely to speak with a family member or friend
first, before heading online and engaging with a service such as
the Lowdown. Such research met Norton's expectations, as he
explained that it supported the thinking process behind the
development of the Lowdown.
One of the faces of the campaign is John Kirwan, a
former All Black rugby union player of a decade and now
international coach. Kirwan has openly spoken of his previous
experiences with depression, including authoring the book All
Blacks Don't Cry, and has since become a Member of the Order of the
British Empire for his work in mental health. Kirwan's contribution
to the campaign, along with prominent contributors to the
entertainment industry Sonia Gray, Dave Gibson, Jane Yee and Awa
has been found to be beneficial for young people who utilise the
service, with Norton indicating that their involvement "can
normalise people's experiences". With New Zealand being the
only country in the world that experienced growth in viewership in
2010, Siewert recognised the powerful medium of the channel when
using recognizable faces, describing their role as "crucial in the
early stages for any campaign for public awareness".
Utilising SMS technology has reaped benefits for
the Lowdown, with Norton stating that feedback received from 14-24
year olds indicating the communication channel is quite beneficial,
finding texts useful and private. As pointed out however, SMS can
only provide limited support, and increased levels of support (such
as a referral to a helpline), is recommended when required. Norton
said that a partial role that SMS communication plays is to
"identify the extended resources that users require", and how to
"encourage users to take that step to begin engaging those
services". Siewert also provided the personal perspective that a
"high cultural barrier" exists on what would typically be deemed in
Australia as 'traditional face-to-face support', with referrals
from GPs typically required.
Describing awareness and research on mental health
and depression as a quickly developing area, Norton said that more
research is required to ensure that engagement with young people is
most effective. Needing to be reviewed according to Norton is the
effectiveness of online programs and their contribution to
combatting depression, while acknowledging that research is
starting to take place. "Technology will change over time, but it's
very important to keep up with the changes as best as you can, in
the safest way possible," Norton said.
Future actions for the Lowdown are to not only
continue to provide a quality service, but also to develop youth
practice guidelines, develop partnerships with the increasing
number of service providers that are beginning to use similar
technologies, and explore channels such as social media (in
particular social networking) to re-assess their presence amongst
young people and ensuring the most effective channels for current
and future users.
When asked to provide one piece of advice to health
care professionals on working with young people and utilising
technology, Norton said "keeping with young people with where
they're at and the technology that they use as best as you can…
meeting people where they're at will provide the best services".
For Siewert, emphasis was placed on putting the user of the service
first. "More work needs to be done to make it [services]
approachable and respectable".
Sources:
http://www.headspace.org.nz/young-people/depression.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kirwan_(rugby)
As many as one in five people experience depression in New
Zealand, with eight percent of teenagers expected to be impacted by
the mental illness at any given time. As a part of the country's
national depression initiative, Dylan Norton is the manager of a
service called 'Lowdown', a service that aims to be a contributor
to the reduction of suicide rates in New Zealand. Simon Siewert
also worked as a digital strategist and was involved with the
creative development of the Lowdown, and will play a pivotal rule
in its future development.
The Lowdown was launched three years ago following what could be
described as a lack of utilization of mainstream help-seeking
services for depression, with less than ten percent of overall call
volumes coming from the 14-24 demographic. These findings and
figures established the need for a service that would not only see
increased help-seeking from young people, but also the requirement
of a service that engages with young people on levels that are most
relevant to them as well as having a presence at the spaces where
they currently interact. The Lowdown is an "early intervention
service, set up to accommodate those with mild to medium levels of
depression". The spectrum of users typically ranges from those who
may not recognise that they are experiencing depression, to those
who are identified as having high levels of the mental illness.
Siewert's research also found that "from a marketing and service
delivery perspective, traditional perspectives weren't going to
work".
As is the story in Australia, the number of people who commit
suicide in New Zealand in each year (more than 100) is higher than
the countries road toll. The country also has the second highest
rates of suicide in the world. Norton said that depression "plays a
part in a majority of suicide attempts", and through doing this
emphasized the importance of having a campaign that is specifically
focused at depression. Results from the campaign appear to be
driving results, with almost 3,000 young people utilising the
Lowdown through text or e-mail in the six months to June 2010, the
most successful period of the campaign yet. The figure is likely to
increase as the service moves into new territories and avenues over
coming months.
How that campaign is executed though needs to be continually
assessed, as Norton advised of research findings showing that media
coverage can have a negative impact, which subsequently provides
challenges on how issues associated with suicide can be
communicated. Siewert said that the key message for users of the
Lowdown was for them to realise that depression "wasn't just a part
of their personality, their make-up" and that "there actually is a
medical condition that causes this". Research has also found that
young people who were experiencing symptoms of depression were
likely to speak with a family member or friend first, before
heading online and engaging with a service such as the Lowdown.
Such research met Norton's expectations, as he explained that it
supported the thinking process behind the development of the
Lowdown.
One of the faces of the campaign is John Kirwan, a former All
Black rugby union player of a decade and now international coach.
Kirwan has openly spoken of his previous experiences with
depression, including authoring the book All Blacks Don't Cry, and
has since become a Member of the Order of the British Empire for
his work in mental health. Kirwan's contribution to the campaign,
along with prominent contributors to the entertainment industry
Sonia Gray, Dave Gibson, Jane Yee and Awa has been found to be
beneficial for young people who utilise the service, with Norton
indicating that their involvement "can normalise people's
experiences". With New Zealand being the only country in the
world that experienced growth in viewership in 2010, Siewert
recognised the powerful medium of the channel when using
recognizable faces, describing their role as "crucial in the early
stages for any campaign for public awareness".
Utilising SMS technology has reaped benefits for the Lowdown,
with Norton stating that feedback received from 14-24 year olds
indicating the communication channel is quite beneficial, finding
texts useful and private. As pointed out however, SMS can only
provide limited support, and increased levels of support (such as a
referral to a helpline), is recommended when required. Norton said
that a partial role that SMS communication plays is to "identify
the extended resources that users require", and how to "encourage
users to take that step to begin engaging those services". Siewert
also provided the personal perspective that a "high cultural
barrier" exists on what would typically be deemed in Australia as
'traditional face-to-face support', with referrals from GPs
typically required.
Describing awareness and research on mental health and
depression as a quickly developing area, Norton said that more
research is required to ensure that engagement with young people is
most effective. Needing to be reviewed according to Norton is the
effectiveness of online programs and their contribution to
combatting depression, while acknowledging that research is
starting to take place. "Technology will change over time, but it's
very important to keep up with the changes as best as you can, in
the safest way possible," Norton said.
Future actions for the Lowdown are to not only continue to
provide a quality service, but also to develop youth practice
guidelines, develop partnerships with the increasing number of
service providers that are beginning to use similar technologies,
and explore channels such as social media (in particular social
networking) to re-assess their presence amongst young people and
ensuring the most effective channels for current and future
users.
When asked to provide one piece of advice to health care
professionals on working with young people and utilising
technology, Norton said "keeping with young people with where
they're at and the technology that they use as best as you can…
meeting people where they're at will provide the best services".
For Siewert, emphasis was placed on putting the user of the service
first. "More work needs to be done to make it [services]
approachable and respectable".
Sources:
http://www.headspace.org.nz/young-people/depression.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kirwan_(rugby)
Advice from young people + health
professionals
We asked health professionals and young people to review The
Lowdown and to provide their advice on how to use this tool with
young people.
Click here to
read their advice!