This goes out to those in the creative arts and media here at Flinders. I’m looking to see if I can get a successful mental health promotion initiative born at UniSA here at Flinders.
Ok, I am going to do a little self-promotion here. But it will be brief and purposeful.
Back in 2016 (before I came here to Flinders), I was involved in getting a project at UniSA up and running called Visualising Mental Health.
The project involves giving 3rd Year Communication Design students education in different mental health topics, and then inviting them to imagine novel products, services, campaigns and events built around that knowledge.
The goal is to re-imagine how we embed conversations around mental health into the broader community and even clinical practice.
The project has been running since 2016. We have a website showcasing many of the student concepts. And we published a paper on the process.
I am keen to expand the concept here at Flinders. Flinders has a very strong offering in the creative arts and media.
If you teach or study in one of these creative arts and media areas and would like to see a collaboration focused on mental health, let me know.
Typically, when we are talking ‘mental health’ in the university sector, it revolves around counselling, lectures, workshops and therapeutic programs.
But in my time working on Visualising Mental Health, it has become clear to me that there are many different and novel ways that we can make the topic of mental health visible and engaging for people.
Contact me gareth.furber@flinders.edu.au if you want to discuss further.