My Circle: Building Supportive Online Communities for Young People with Social and Mental Health Concerns
Tracks
Ballroom 2 - In Person Only
| Wednesday, March 20, 2024 |
| 11:25 AM - 12:05 PM |
Overview
Dr Pablo Navarro, Yourtown
Details
Presentation Key Learnings:
1. Young people engaging with My Circle reported benefits such as improvements in depression, psychological distress, and mental wellbeing from baseline.
2. Young people engaging with My Circle reported reduced perceptions of mental health stigma, increased coping skills, and a greater willingness to seek help from mental health/well-being services.
3. Young people accessing My Circle with psychological distress in the highest range, reported fewest changes but were more engaged with the service. The longer they accessed the service, the more likely they were to report increased safety, learning coping skills, reductions in help-seeking stigma, and awareness of mental health services.
Speaker
Dr Pablo Navarro
Clinical Advisor
Yourtown
My Circle: Building Supportive Online Communities for Young People with Social and Mental Health Concerns
Abstract
Supporting the mental wellbeing of young people is a significant challenge in public health, with half of all life-time mental illnesses developing before age 14 and 75% of all mental health problems appearing before age 25. However, most young people don't receive care due to myriad safety and accessibility barriers to treatment, which subsequently increases their likelihood of developing lifelong chronic mental health disorders.
Considering that internet-connected mobile devices are now pervasive among young people, many are increasingly turning online for mental health support and information. Social media platforms have become integral to the lives of young people over the past decade, where individuals with mental health issues often use these platforms to find a sense of community, support, acceptance, and help-seeking advice. Yet while young people already use social media for support and information, seeking help from strangers and non-experts can expose young people to inaccurate or misleading information and hostile or derogatory comments, which may negatively impact their mental health. yourtown and The University of Sydney have developed an evidence-based solution to address this need: My Circle.
This presentation details the development and evaluation of My Circle - a purpose-built, scalable social media platform that provides young people with a pathway to anonymous, clinically guided peer-to-peer support that aims to validate their experiences, break down stigma, normalise help-seeking, and educate. Unlike existing social media platforms, My Circle is designed for safety and wellbeing, and is integrated with Kids Helpline for 24/7 one-on-one support.
Considering that internet-connected mobile devices are now pervasive among young people, many are increasingly turning online for mental health support and information. Social media platforms have become integral to the lives of young people over the past decade, where individuals with mental health issues often use these platforms to find a sense of community, support, acceptance, and help-seeking advice. Yet while young people already use social media for support and information, seeking help from strangers and non-experts can expose young people to inaccurate or misleading information and hostile or derogatory comments, which may negatively impact their mental health. yourtown and The University of Sydney have developed an evidence-based solution to address this need: My Circle.
This presentation details the development and evaluation of My Circle - a purpose-built, scalable social media platform that provides young people with a pathway to anonymous, clinically guided peer-to-peer support that aims to validate their experiences, break down stigma, normalise help-seeking, and educate. Unlike existing social media platforms, My Circle is designed for safety and wellbeing, and is integrated with Kids Helpline for 24/7 one-on-one support.
Biography
Pablo Navarro (he/they) is the Clinical Advisor for projects at yourtown, where his role is to provide clinical consultation and project management focused on service design, development, evaluation, and delivery for services-in-development to ensure they are safe, ethical, effective, and values-aligned.
Concurrent to his role at yourtown, Pablo works in private practice as a registered counselling psychologist, clinical psychology registrar, and accredited psychosexual therapist with over 15 years’ clinical experience working in-person and online with young people and adults in community, health, and private settings with issues related to their social, emotional, and mental wellbeing.
