Providing help-seeking information
Ensuring help-seeking information and support services are included in all content, which explores, discusses, portrays or reports on mental health concerns is incredibly important.
The inclusion of help-seeking information has been found to encourage individuals who may be impacted by content to seek help and support where needed.
What sort of help-seeking information should be included?
- Two support services that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week
- Provide direct links to services in online content
- Include information around at least one online support service or forum
- Other service contacts where people can get information
- Include relevant information to the particular content, e.g. demographic, state or cultural diversity.
Media and communications professionals have a duty of care to ensure stories about mental health concerns do not negatively impact audiences.
The inclusion of help-seeking information and 24/7 support services into all content or discussions of mental health and mental health concerns, whether it be print, broadcast, online or social media, will allow people to seek help and support when it's needed.
To find out why help-seeking is important to include in communication, click here.
The suicide prevention and mental health sector contribute significantly to the promotion of help-seeking behaviour by supporting the inclusion of help-seeking information in all content or discussions of mental health concerns.
This extends beyond simple help-seeking information to encompass internal and external content, presentations, videos, marketing collateral, commentary via social media and during interviews with media.
The sector can assist in supporting, encouraging and promoting the inclusion of help-seeking information in their own content as well as within news coverage.
By advocating for the inclusion of information when interviewed by media, the sector can assist in encouraging media to consistently include relevant help-seeking information.