Move over stigma! How design research helped us navigate past barriers to help seeking

How do you engage young people with mental health support if they don’t identify as someone with a mental health issue? Find out how ReachOut created a campaign which navigated around the stigma surrounding help seeking through design research with young people.

This presentation will be of interest to anyone exploring issues where people fear judgment, and will give practical tips on how to approach sensitive conversations. It is also for those interested to hear the benefits of using a mixed platform approach to design research.

We have been refining methods to explore sensitive topics over 8 years of co-design research with young people, and today I will discuss:

  1. Friendship groups, and how bringing people together who know each other can challenge assumptions you may not realise you had. I will share what we did which revealed differences in what young people chose to share in front of close friends vs privately with researchers.
  2. Creative activities and how they help young people express themselves. I will share some of the activities we use to help people open up about sensitive topics, because let’s face it- sometimes talking is hard and you don’t always have the vocabulary for emotional topics.
  3. Online platforms, and how they help create an environment where people can be brutally honest. I will share what we found when we spoke to young people where they feel very comfortable... behind a screen.