Co-designing an urgent response to mental health and wellbeing needs during the COVID-19 pandemic

Responding to mental health needs during a pandemic

COVID-19 is causing new mental health challenges and exacerbating existing ones. Beyond Blue recognised these effects but needed a better understanding of people’s diverse experiences to respond effectively.

Beyond Blue is Australia’s most established and trusted source of information and advice on mental health and wellbeing. They urgently needed to identify unmet needs and adapt their existing assets and services to help. Additionally, Beyond Blue identified a need to connect and build relationships with people who may not have experienced mental health challenges before.

Building trusted relationships through an online co-design process

We spent six weeks listening, learning and facilitating idea generation with thirty community members with lived experience of mental health challenges. We supported the community to imagine new ways Beyond Blue could engage and provide value to them.

Co-design is a profoundly human process. It relies on real-time, face-to-face, tactile interactions, which are often facilitated via group activities. Conducting such activities remotely requires careful planning and consideration. Given the sensitivity of the subject matter, we needed to ensure that every activity and every conversation was conducted safely, with the necessary clinical support on hand to assist.

Despite the challenges and barriers of remote work, we were able to establish high levels of trust and deep relationships with the community.

Adaptability, flexibility and accessibility – making remote research work for everyone

We recognised the unique needs of community members and designed a range of ways for people to receive information and engage with the community, based on their circumstances and preferences.

Communications included videos, town hall meetings, written updates and phone check-ins. Activities included individual tasks, group discussions and workshops, all with different ways for people to express their thoughts and ideas.

The multiple modes of engagement created greater opportunities for people to participate in the community, come back to conversations when they felt ready, and build outcomes collaboratively.

Viable, deliverable strategies for COVID and beyond

We used a co-design process not only to develop new ideas and strategies, but assess the value and applicability of Beyond Blue’s existing strategies and services.

We also worked with representatives from the executive, business transformation, clinical support and digital teams at Beyond Blue to identify inflight projects and initiatives that can be leveraged to respond to the needs and priorities identified through co-design. We evaluated every idea against the organisation’s strategy, internal capability and capacity and explored potential challenges and implementation risks.

This process resulted in thirteen product and service ideas and a delivery roadmap. Each idea was presented as a detailed concept brief, with a COVID-specific iteration of each idea as well as future evolutions to broaden its use and reach. We included implementation steps, dependencies, risks and other relevant factors critical to successfully executing on the idea.

Using storytelling to build understanding

Alongside the thirteen ideas presented
we crafted the insights into a visual metaphor. We told the story of a community feeling at sea in uncertainty and their need for support to find a safer passage through the storms.

It gave Beyond Blue a tool to share the insights through their internal channels so the whole organisation could quickly get across the research. It also let the co-design community see their generous contributions represented.

A lasting impact

We are extremely proud and humbled to have been a trusted partner to the mental health sector during these difficult times.

This project was one of a kind. We engaged in deep and genuine ways with a community of people who were experiencing significant challenges in their lives. This engagement was conducted entirely remotely, and differences in the way people participated was truly embraced.

It was a critical and time-sensitive project for Beyond Blue. They urgently needed to understand the impacts of COVID, create a shared understanding across the organisation, and develop a clear vision and roadmap of work to move forward with.