A new charity's technology will be able to reduce the time it takes to select and contact a suitable mental health hotline.
Recent government data shows almost half (45 per cent) of the Australian population will experience mental illness at some point in their life, with more than three quarters reported to have worsened mental health due to COVID.
New local charity Live For Tomorrow has launched technology set to help news companies and social media more effectively connect users in crisis with mental health support services.
Users will also be able to access more than 1,600 helplines through the charity's Find A Helpline website in the coming weeks.
"What we know is that people in crisis can struggle to connect with helplines that best fit their needs for a range of reasons," Live For Tomorrow founder Elliot Taylor says. "These barriers can manifest in a number of ways – including the stigma of reaching out for help."
"Our aim is to remove the perceptual and logistic barriers and make the first step taken to connect with support as seamless as possible.
"We’re achieving this through a new web-based widget which can be integrated into a news or social media site around content which may be a catalyst for a user to seek help.
"The user can confidentially select the right service to fit their specific needs and know straight away whether they offer support for the deaf or hard of hearing community via text message, are familiar with the issues facing LGBTQIA+ youth or even just knowing which hours they are open – an issue particularly relevant to regional services which aren’t always funded for 24/7 support," Elliot says.
Live For Tomorrow has also partnered with TikTok to help promote mental health and wellbeing resources and content on the platform.
Go here for more information on Live For Tomorrow.
This story originally appeared on our sister site, FROOTY.
