By Maria Calocerinos, R U OK? Community Manager
In the 15 years since R U OK? began, it has grown to be a national conversation movement in schools, workplaces and communities across Australia. R U OK? is almost a household name, in English.
But how does R U OK? translate in a nation where 51% of residents were born overseas(1), or have a parent born overseas (of whom 22.8%(2) speak a language other than English)?
What can we do to better support everyone in Australia to build their skills and confidence to have conversations about life’s ups and downs with the people in their world in any language?
In 2023 Mental Health Australia through the Embrace Multicultural Mental Health initiative invited us to work with them on a suicide prevention pilot to co-design mental health resources with communities whose first language is not English. Following a national call for expressions of interest, we were delighted to collaborate with community leaders in three different settings and language groups:
The completed resources will be free to view and download here.
This project was a great opportunity to gain insights into how R U OK? can better support all communities. The biggest lesson for me was that we, as a society and the mental health sector, lean to an English first approach and depend on translations to present information in other languages. This is often done without deeper thought about that community’s context or preferred communication format and tone.
I was humbled to be part of the support team for the facilitators on this project. While I couldn’t speak the language of participants, I felt an amazing connection to them and their communities. I was left with a greater appreciation for their challenges, resilience and commitment to caring for others.
I see this as the start of our work with multilingual communities in this country. My warmest thanks and appreciation go to the community facilitators and co-design participants who were involved and for their leadership and commitment to supporting ongoing conversations and connection within their communities.
Special thanks to the Ethnic Communities Services Co-operative, Lurnea High School and Stride Network for their involvement and guidance throughout the project.
1: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021) Culturally and linguistically diverse communities
2: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021) Top 5 most common languages other than English
English
R U OK? Community Manager, Maria Calocerinos, shares what she has learned from our community-led project to co-design R U OK? resources in more languages.
Tips for mental health and community organisations on co-designing suicide prevention resources with multicultural communities.
This was produced by R U OK? as part of the Embrace Suicide Prevention Pilot , a collaboration between Mental Health Australia, R U OK?, Suicide Prevention Australia and Verian. It was funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care.
Key learnings
Thank you to everyone who shared their time, personal experiences and care for their community as part of this project. This is just the start of our work together.
الترجمة لوحدها ليست كافية: نصائح لمؤسسات الصحة النفسية والمجتمع المحلي حول المشاركة في تصميم موارد الوقاية من الانتحار مع المجتمعات المتنوعة ثقافيًا ولغويًا
تم إنتاج هذه الرسومات المتحركة بواسطة R U OK؟ كجزء من برنامج The Embrace Suicide Prevention Pilot، وهو عبارة عن تعاون بين منظمتي Mental Health Australia وR U OK؟ مكافحة الانتحار في أستراليا وفيريان. بتمويل من وزارة الكومنولث للصحة ورعاية المسنين
الدروس الرئيسية المستفادة من التجربة:
شكرًا لكل من شارك بوقته وتجاربه الشخصية واهتمامه بمجتمعه المحلي كجزء من هذا المشروع. إنه مجرد بداية عملنا معًا.
Vietnamese: Việt
Chỉ dịch thôi là chưa đủ: Lời khuyên dành cho các tổ chức cộng đồng và sức khỏe tâm thần về việc cùng với các Cộng đồng Đa dạng về Văn hóa và Ngôn ngữ đồng thiết kế các nguồn tài liệu để ngăn ngừa tự tử
Tài liệu này do R U OK? sản xuất như là một phần trong chương trình Thí Điểm Vòng Tay (The Embrace) nhằm Ngăn ngừa Tự tử, được hợp tác giữa tổ chức Sức Khỏe Tâm Thần Úc và R U OK? Ngăn ngừa Tự Tử của Úc và Verian. Được Bộ Y Tế và Chăm Sóc Người Cao Niên của Chính phủ Liên bang tài trợ
Các bài học cốt yếu từ chương trình thí điểm:
Xin cảm ơn tất cả mọi người đã chia sẻ thời gian, kinh nghiệm và sự quan tâm đến cộng đồng của họ như một phần của dự án này. Đây chỉ là khởi đầu trong việc hợp tác của chúng tôi. Để tìm hiểu nhiều hơn, xin truy cập
ruok.org.au
Hindi: हिन्दी
केवल अनुवाद करना ही पर्याप्त नहीं है: सांस्कृतिक एवं भाषाई तौर पर विविध समुदायों के साथ आत्म-हत्या रोकथाम संसाधनों को सह-डिज़ाइन करने पर मानसिक स्वास्थ्य तथा सामुदायिक संगठनों के लिए सुझाव
यह दस्तावेज R U OK? द्वारा Mental Health Australia, R U OK? के बीच सहयोग में The Embrace Suicide Prevention Pilot (द एम्ब्रेस सुसाइड प्रिवेंशन पायलट) के भाग के तौर पर तैयार किया गया था। Suicide Prevention Australia (आत्म-हत्या रोकथाम ऑस्ट्रेलिया) और Verian. राष्ट्रमंडल स्वास्थ्य एवं वयोवृद्ध देखभाल विभाग द्वारा वित्त-पोषित
पायलट से मिली मुख्य सीखें:
हर किसी का धन्यवाद जिन्होंने इस परियोजना के भाग के तौर पर अपने समय, निजी अनुभवों और अपने समुदाय के लिए देखभाल साझा की। यह हमारे मिलकर काम करने की बस शुरूआत है।
और अधिक सीखने के लिए
ruok.org.au पर जाएँ
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R U OK? is an Australian suicide prevention charity and registered public health promotion that encourages people to stay connected and have conversations that can help others through difficult times.
R U OK? acknowledges Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities as the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work and pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging. We are an inclusive organisation and respect people of all backgrounds, genders, sexualities, cultures, bodies and abilities.
R U OK? is an Australian suicide prevention charity and registered public health promotion that encourages people to stay connected and have conversations that can help others through difficult times.
R U OK? acknowledges Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities as the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work and pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging. We are an inclusive organisation and respect people of all backgrounds, genders, sexualities, cultures, bodies and abilities.
R U OK? is an Australian suicide prevention charity and registered public health promotion that encourages people to stay connected and have conversations that can help others through difficult times.
R U OK? acknowledges Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities as the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work and pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging. We are an inclusive organisation and respect people of all backgrounds, genders, sexualities, cultures, bodies and abilities.