Evaluation of the Bringing them home and Indigenous mental health programs

7.2.3 Promotion of and awareness of the programs

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Generally the Link-Up and BTH services do very little or no proactive promotion of their programs in the community. Referral to Link-Ups and BTH services often occurs by word of mouth rather than as a result of deliberate attempts to develop a client base. In some locations, community knowledge of these programs appears to be based on services' longevity more than any other factor.

Various factors contribute to the lack of program promotion:

• the services' high workloads and reportedly inability to meet the current demand
• the lack of staff resources to undertake this activity and to respond to the increased demand likely to be generated
• the services' reactive rather than proactive approach to service delivery
• the lack of contractual or reporting requirements relating to this issue for BTH services (for Link-Up services the Foxtrot system includes an item concerning service awareness raising issues, and in WA the services are required to report on the number of community awareness sessions under the BSF pro-forma)
• the lack of program guidelines for awareness-raising.

One of the few services to do much promotional work is the Brisbane Link-Up organisation. This service employs a promotional officer whose role is to promote its programs and services in Queensland. The Brisbane Link-Up service is also well-promoted during National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week and Sorry Day activities in Brisbane.
Another service which has conducted numerous promotional activities is Nunkuwarrin Yunti in SA. Examples of activities conducted include a calendar, a SA Mission booklet and posters, the Finding Your Way resource, a Link-Up website, the Why Me? DVD, active promotion of Stolen Generations issues at health expos, educational activities with schools, SA Police and the Department for Families and Communities, and integration of Stolen Generations issues into a practice model across SEWB services.

Associated with the low levels of promotion of the Link-Up and BTH Programs, awareness of these services among communities is variable. They are generally well-known in their immediate vicinity (ie the town/city they are located in), but awareness tends to become patchier the greater the distance from the services. There appear to be the lowest levels of community awareness of the programs in locations which are furthest away from service outlets. As noted in Chapter 6, this disproportionately impacts on first generation Stolen Generations members, as they are more likely to be living in these locations.

GPP3:

Link-Up and BTH services should conduct regular awareness-raising activities in their communities to ensure the existence and nature of the program is well-known in their entire catchment area.

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