Before you do anything, it's important to get a sense of where people are at, and how they are doing. Whatever your budget, asking questions and seeking to understand is the perfect place to start (and continue!).
Building a campaign based on research will ensure the needs of the people you’re supporting is what guides every step of the process. Good research will inform your language, tone and timing, and reveal any 'pressure points'.
Research can be a useful tool for reassuring and validating, and by reflecting the findings back to the community it helps remind people they're not alone. Evaluating how you’re doing can guide your activity, not to mention coming in handy when it comes time to ask for funding (see Showing your impact).
Quantitative research
This is research based on objective facts, statistics and data. It requires a relatively large sample size so you can be confident that your results are representative. The Census, online surveys, and some phone surveys are quantitative. Statistically significant quantitative research can provide compelling results which are difficult to argue with.
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research provides insights into how people are thinking – what they think, why they think it, and what motivates them. As well as allowing you to capture and explore people’s unique perspectives, qualitative research can help you develop possible themes or topics that can be investigated in future quantitative research. It can also provide insights into the best language to use.
The following are all excellent ways to undertake qualitative research.
When you have some people in a room (maybe 6–12) and have an interviewer asking questions about a particular topic, then that’s a focus group! They are a great way to understand different viewpoints and the degree to which these vary within a group.
Research doesn’t have to be formal to be useful. Water cooler conversations, interactions on social media, and whanaungatanga at a meeting can reveal valuable insights into people’s mindsets.
These are typically longer detailed interviews with a person who has played (or is playing) an important role within a community, or is a subject matter experts.
All Right? carries out regular research on the mental health of our community, including with specific populations (e.g. Māori, Pacific, Parents, the LGBTQIA+ community, and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities)
Sharing your findings with the community is important. Here's a selection of infographics we've created to share our findings:
Here's a spreadsheet template to record anecdotal information about how your community is doing
The WHO-5 is a self-rated measure of emotional wellbeing. A score of 0 represents the lowest level of emotional wellbeing, 25 represents the highest level, and scores below 13 may indicate risk of poor mental health.
This is a 14 item scale of mental wellbeing covering subjective well-being and psychological functioning. The minimum scale score is 14 and the maximum is 70.
The Canterbury Wellbeing Index brings together high-quality information about community wellbeing in Christchurch City, and Selwyn and Waimakariri Districts in an on-line format. As well as drawing from the data of many different local and national agencies, the Index incorporates information from the annual Canterbury Wellbeing Survey which was completed by nearly 3,000 randomly selected greater Christchurch residents in April and May 2018.
Research commissioned by All Right? is available to download on the All Right? website.
Recovering from a disaster takes time (experts suggest five to ten years) and it's important to say right up front that it’s not a straight forward process. It’s very normal for things to feel “two steps forward - one step back” — but research suggests there are some common phases communities go through.
Mental wellbeing is all about feeling good and functioning well. Mental health is something we all have, and just like our physical health, our mental health is something we can look after and strengthen.
Before you do anything, it's important to get a sense of where people are at, and how they are doing. Whatever your budget, asking questions and seeking to understand is the perfect place to start (and continue!).
Whether you're working in a recovery space or are wanting to foster greater wellbeing in your community, it’s important to work closely with potential allies who can help. You don’t have to do it alone – and even if you could, the end result is always better with a little help from your friends.
Regardless of your budget or the type of work you’re hoping to do, you can achieve much more by working in partnership with others in your community.
Mental health promotion supports people to have more awareness of and control over what helps them feel good and function well. Raising emotional and wellbeing literacy can reduce worries or concerns over troubling experiences and emotions, bringing people’s natural coping mechanisms to the fore, improve quality of life, raise awareness of issues early and reduce the need for service-level care.
Having a team with a wide range of backgrounds and specialities can deliver the best results. Team up with people who specialise in the things you don’t and foster a culture built on trust, where it's okay to disagree, have different opinions and throw ideas around.
Whether you're creating resources, giving talks or planning an event, creativity and thinking outside the square can really help you generate some buzz and engage your audience. Getting specialist help with visual communication can be a big help!
Knowing the difference you’re making enables you to continually refine and reframe your approach. As well as helping to ensure you’re on the right track, having evidence that you are making a difference can help you secure ongoing funding and support.
All Right? has been annually evaluated - this has taken two forms, a quantitative survey and a process evaluation. The survey has measured reach and impact, while the process evaluation has focused on specific population groups or aspects of the campaign.
