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Reach Out! |
Reach Out! has been helping young people get through tough times since 1998. Online information, support and inspirational stories offer an anonymous and stigma-free way for young people to get help, explore issues, and discover how other young people are coping with difficult times.
On average, Reach Out! receives 155,000 website visitors each month.
Reach Out! is an initiative of the Inspire Foundation and Inspire's mission is to use technology to create opportunities for young people to change their world. It is a national charitable organisation established in 1996 that focuses on a broad range of mental health and social issues that affect the emotional health and wellbeing of young people. It also has two other national programs www.actnow.com.au and www.beanbag.net.au.
How Reach Out! has helped one 16-year-old girl
"I started on this site a while ago when my friend was very depressed and had bulimia and was also cutting herself, and i just needed somewhere to sort out in my head how she could do that. i sent her the sheet on self-harm, it was important to me that she knew i wanted to help. since then i have also been feeling depressed, and Reach out! has helped in so many ways.
It is so helpful to me to read through the stories so i know other people went through exactly the same thing and they are still alive and they are even happy now. that seems impossible to me now, but some of the stories and interviews you have, i could swear it is me writing them because they know exactly how i feel, and those people are okay now, or at least have hope for the future, which is what i am lacking right now. i think that is a very important thing about Reach out!, it gives you hope."
Some Reach Out! facts
Our target audience is 16-25 year olds
Since its launch in March 1998, Reach Out! has had over 5 million visitors
Our user profiling survey showed that 38% of young people who visit Reach Out! go on to seek help from a health professional
57% of visitors have used Reach Out! more than once when going through a tough time
40% of young people visiting Reach Out! are aged between 14-17 years
77% of young people say they would tell a friend about Reach Out!*
50% increase in visitors to Reach Out! in 2005 compared to the previous year
80 Youth Ambassadors Australia-wide are actively involved in developing and shaping the Reach Out! program
Currently one in three young Australians know about Reach Out!*
The most accessed area of the Reach out! website is Sorting Stuff Out, in particular the following fact sheets:
Depression and Anxiety
Self-harm
Friendships
School and university
Around 18,800 people subscribe to RAW, the Reach Out! fortnightly e-newsletter
*Whetstone at The Leading Edge, Website Profiling Research, May 2006
About Reach Out! Central
Inspire is developing a new program for young people called "Reach Out! Central" (ROC). Utilising design, role play and navigation features from games, it consists of a series of interactive modules that help young people develop life skills critical to managing depression, building resilience and preventing poor health outcomes. The content draws heavily from cognitive behavioural theory and is designed to assist young people in the development of life skills that enable them to overcome adversity that may predispose them to depression and other high prevalence mental health problems, such as anxiety and drug and alcohol use.
| Website | www.inspire.org.au |