Mental wellbeing support for every community during COVID-19

The Brief

COVID-19 hit everyone hard.

When people needed mental health support, they needed to know where to go – and feel secure that they’d be supported without judgement. 

But to get help, people needed to know they needed it. Cultural perceptions around mental health can differ depending on where you come from. And if English is a second language, knowing where to go can be a challenge.

Beyond Blue needed to break down these barriers. To give everyone, no matter where they come from or what language they need, access to the support they needed, when they needed it. 

Idea

Content needed to address the barriers to accessing mental health support, in a way people understood.

Working closely with Beyond Blue, we outlined an approach to creating a range of materials housed on the Beyond Blue website that would be translated into four languages, as well as a translated animation to point people towards them. 

Outcomes

We created in-language videos and materials that built people’s understanding of mental health and what to look out for. They helped people self-manage their mental health, while breaking down the barriers to getting support when they needed it.

We wrote all the materials, which were clinically reviewed before being translated and tailored alongside community leaders into Vietnamese, Punjabi, Mandarin and Arabic. 

Once the messaging was spot on for each of our audiences, we handled the animation process from end-to-end — from artwork and storyboarding through to recording voiceovers in our studio and final animation. We also created supporting materials and messages, which were tested and designed. 

Once everything was created, we dispatched the materials through our network of engaged community leaders and organisations.