ReachOut.com is an internet service for young people that provides information, support and resources about

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...

issues and enable them to develop resilience, increase

coping skill Coping refers to conscious strategies used to reduce unpleasant emotions. Coping strategies can be cognitions or behaviours and can be individual or social. Theories of coping Hundreds of coping strategies have been proposed in an attempt to ...

s, and facilitate help-seeking behaviour. The site contains information about issues affecting young people in the form of fact sheets, stories, podcasts and

online forums An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...

History

ReachOut.com was launched in March 1998 as an initiative of Inspire Foundation (now known as ReachOut Australia) to help young people with their

. ReachOut.com has now expanded to the United States and Ireland. ReachOut provides online support to young people going through tough times. It provides online resources like real stories and fact sheets which are written alongside young people, and a peer-support forum which is a space where young people can talk about mental health issues and receive support and help.

Site content

Writing style and tone

The majority of ReachOut is written in an

informal Formal, formality, informal or informality imply the complying with, or not complying with, some set of requirements (forms, in Ancient Greek). They may refer to: Dress code and events * Formal wear, attire for formal events * Semi-formal attir ...

tone to appeal to the younger audience. The writing is often broken up into smaller sections or contains lists, and is usually accompanied by an image.

Site authors

Young people play a key role in writing content and developing ReachOut. The service often partners with other health and community service organizations to provide accurate and current information. As the site is informational, users are referred to phone and web

counselling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. This is a list of co ...

services such as

Kids Helpline Kids Helpline is a free Australian telephone and online counselling service for young people aged between 5 and 25. Counsellors respond to more than 6,000 calls each week about issues ranging from relationship breakdown and bullying to sexu ...

and Lifeline.

Services Linked With ReachOut.com

Reach Out.com has expanded its website to include new services.

ReachOut Central

ReachOut Central is a "serious" game that works interactively to help young people explore how thinking, behaviour and feelings interact with each other. A series of real life scenarios allow users to discover how the way they think and feel can positively influence their behaviour (or vice versa) and the impact this has on the outcome of situations. The information provided in the game links with information provided on ReachOut.com through the format of tips and tricks and links to fact sheets. On 17 September 2007 ReachOut Central launched as a full version game after a successful run with the pilot program with limited scenarios. The current version of the game allows for further expansion in additional scenarios that can be scripted and updated when new information is made available. Within two weeks of launching ReachOut Central was nominated and eventually named as a winner in the Changemakers.net Why Games Matter Competition. The announcement of the win with two other games was made on 8 November 2007. The interactive game was the only Australian game nominated. ReachOut Central also came runner-up in the Health Category of the Stockholm Challenge Awards for 2008. ReachOut Central was one of the 19 finalists chosen from across the world under the Health Category of the Awards. The Stockholm Challenge Awards is an international award that inspires and challenges the information and technology industries to create social and sustainable benefits for individuals and communities through their projects.

ReachOut Community Forum

The online forum lets

young people Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

share what is happening in their lives, in a safe environment moderated by staff and trained moderators. The forums are not a counselling service but often help to refer young people to information and services. They are also a way for ReachOut.com users to connect to each other and find others they can share similar experiences with.

ReachOut Teachers' Network

Launched in April 2007, the ReachOut Teachers’ Network connects secondary school teachers with the ReachOut service by providing classroom lessons on issues that young people may face within the

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

areas in schools.

ReachOut Pro

The ReachOut.com Professionals service targets professionals dealing with young people and mental health by providing an online source of information and resources. The provision of these resources aims to provide a way for a range of professionals to engage young people in the treatment and maintenance of better mental health outcomes.

ReachOut Youth Involvement

All of ReachOut Australia's programs have input from young people, all of whom are volunteers. ReachOut has over 100 Youth Ambassadors from around Australia, and it is these young people who have input to the development of the website, and activities in which ReachOut partakes. The work the young people undertake ranges from administration tasks in the central office, to presentations for the service and moderation of the ReachOut Community Forums.

ReachOut Parents

In May 2016 ReachOut introduced a new free online service for parents who want to help but would like to know more about topics such as bullying, self-esteem,

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

, and

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

. A recent study found that 70% of teenagers do not access support, and if they do, most will turn to their parents first. ReachOut Parents provides practical support to encourage effective communication between parents and young people aged 12–18 years.

Awards

* Gold Harold for Health & Medicine, Life Education 2013 * Best Not for Profit Site, SiteCore Site of the Year Awards (ANZ) 2013 * Inspire Foundation (ReachOut.com) awarded for excellence in suicide prevention within social media in 20142014 LiFE Award Winners by Suicide Prevention Australia
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External links

ReachOut.com

ReachOut.com Professionals

ReachOut Central

About ReachOut Australia

References

{{Portal bar, Australia Reach Out! Mental health organisations in Australia