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ACROSSnet
(Australians Creating Rural Online Support Systems)
is a three-year collaborative action research project. It
aims to help members of rural and remote communities to access
information, education and support regarding suicide and its
prevention. In particular, the project aims to design and
develop an online support system that will assist community
professionals and professional mental health workers in rural
and remote areas to access information, education and support
on mental health, suicide risk and resilience factors.
The project essentially has two overlapping
components:
- the ACROSSnet web site, and
- an action research component that focuses
on the collection and analysis of data, and evaluates the
effectiveness and transferability of the ACROSSnet model
as a means of providing online support.
The ACROSSnet web site consists of three
levels:
- a community resource bank of user-friendly,
reliable information about mental health, suicide risk and
resilience issues;
- an interactive page for registered users,
providing access to discussion forums, chat conferences
and more specialised information for community health and
related professionals; and
- opportunity for professional mental health
workers to consult personally with an expert in the field.
Registration procedures will ensure the provision
of a confidential and ethical service at the second and third level.
The design and development of the ACROSSnet
web site is being informed by feedback from site users. Workshops
and focus groups in rural and remote towns around Queensland
offer the opportunity for workers to provide input into the
web site design and respond to changes. These activities also
bring together workers in an informal environment that facilitates
local face-to-face networking across sectors.
The research component consists of a number
of data collection activities including surveys, case studies
and community-based fieldwork such as the workshops and focus
groups mentioned above. The principal aim of the research
is to evaluate the effectiveness and transferability of the
ACROSSnet model as a means of providing online support for
isolated workers.
For more detailed information about ACROSSnet,
click on one of the links in the 'About ACROSSnet' menu on
the left.
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