What is WellMob?
WellMob is a website that is digital library of over 250 mental health and wellbeing resources for First Nations Australians including websites, apps, videos, fact sheets and apps together in one place. The website was developed to make it easy for frontline health and community workers to find culturally appropriate online resources for First Nation’s people.
Health promotion resources - a digital talking stick
The WellMob website focuses on gathering health promotion resources that have been made for or by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. One of its strengths is that it captures health information and messages that is presented in a culturally responsive way to make it easy to understand and inviting for First Nations people.
In particular, WellMob has a variety of digital content using storytelling techniques to supply information, rather than just giving a set of facts. Videos, podcasts and e-brochures can be a really great way for a non-Indigenous clinician to discuss a health and wellbeing issue and build rapport with their Indigenous clients.
"Our diverse mob often learn and connect with information through story. It doesn't have to be a formal health program every time. It can be something as simple as a video that talks about someone's challenges dealing with stress, anxiety or depression, and how they overcame them through connecting to support. They’re able to say, ‘Look at them, they are a deadly person who inspire me.’"
David Edwards, Worimi man and WellMob website Co-Director
WellMob features online resources that go beyond the mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. A model of Indigenous Social and Emotional Wellbeing was used as the framework and content focus for the website. This concept takes into consideration that mental and physical health are only some of the domains that make up the wellbeing of an indigenous person. Their connection to traditional country, culture, community and kin also make a significant contribution.
How to use the WellMob website?
The website landing page has 6 main topics you can search under for your Indigenous clients or for your professional development. These wellbeing topics include: Mind; Body; Our Mob; Culture, Keeping Safe; and Healing.
Under each of these main health topics there are numerous sub-topics you can also search under. There is also a search and advanced search function that allows you to refine what type of resource and what subject matter you are looking for. The website is a useful tool for our clinical and allied health community to use both in and out of session.
Professional development & recorded webinars
The WellMob team have collaborated with the Black Dog Institute to develop some accredited webinars about the website and using online resources with your Indigenous clients. Click here to register for a free 1 hour webinar and earn CPD points. This includes:
Supporting Indigenous wellbeing through digital resources: an introduction for clinicians
Using online resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health & wellbeing
Why develop WellMob?
The WellMob website is useful in a range of primary health care and preventative care settings for Indigenous people. It has online resources on a diversity of health topics, not just on mental health.
The WellMob website was developed as a ‘one-stop shop’ of culturally relevant resources for health workforce to use with their Indigenous clients.
“It was like looking for needles in haystacks to find culturally safe, Indigenous-specific wellbeing resources. Most practitioners just used Google, but it was hard to narrow down to Australian Indigenous online resources that were evidence-based or had been vetted to ensure cultural-safety for our community.”
David Edwards, Worimi man and WellMob website Co-Director
How was WellMob developed?
The website was co-developed with health workers in different parts of the country. Reference groups guided website development in Larrakia (Darwin, NT), Kaurna (Adelaide, SA) and Bundjalung (Lismore, NSW) country to ensure it met the needs of our diverse First Nations Australians.
The website was developed under the national eMHPrac (e-mental health in practice) project in collaboration with the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet. The WellMob team are based at the University Centre for Rural Health (Lismore, NSW) and are part of the University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine and Health. Find out more under the about tab on the website.
Want more information?
The WellMob e-bulletin has been launched and each edition will help us integrate digital wellbeing in our work. The e-bulletin keeps our health workforce up to date with new e-mental health tools and includes tips on how to use digital resources found on WellMob with our Indigenous patients. Click here to subscribe to the WellMob e-bulletin.
If you would like to be sent out some free ‘calling cards’ for you to write online resources down and leave with your First Nations patients, contact David Edwards at E: d.edwards@sydney.edu.au .
Also, feel free to follow the WellMob FaceBook page.