Impact on stakeholders of a cultural adaptation of a social and emotional well-being intervention in an Aboriginal community.

PURPOSE: Australian Indigenous people conceptualise health broadly as situated within a social and emotional well-being (SEWB) framework. A consultation process with an Aboriginal community revealed that the fundamental principles of the population wide, community-based Act-Belong-Commit mental health promotion Campaign were consistent with Aboriginal people's understanding of SEWB and that a cultural adaptation of the Campaign would be welcomed in the community. The purpose of this paper is to present key stakeholders' feedback on the Campaign adaptation. METHODOLOGY: Two years after implementation of the Campaign, individual in-depth interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of n = 18 Indigenous and non-Indigenous stakeholders to identify ongoing issues in the community and assess their reactions to the Campaign implementation and perceptions of the effects of the Campaign on the community. RESULTS: The two primary factors influencing stakeholder acceptance of the Campaign in the community were (i) the nature of the consultation process that clearly acknowledged that it was for the community to decide whether or not to adopt the Campaign and (ii) the ability of the Aboriginal Project Manager to gain the trust of the community, bring stakeholders together and illustrate the Act-Belong-Commit principles in her actions in the community. Stakeholders reported observing social and emotional well-being benefits for individuals, their families and the whole community. CONCLUSION: Overall, the results suggest that the Act-Belong-Commit mental health promotion Campaign can be successfully culturally adapted as a community-based, social and emotional well-being Campaign in Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities. SO WHAT?: The Act-Belong-Commit cultural adaptation in Roebourne provides an evidence-based best practice model for the development of culturally appropriate mental health promotion campaigns in Indigenous communities around Australia.

Twenty-One Reasons for Implementing the Act-Belong-Commit-'ABCs of Mental Health' Campaign.

While there has been increased attention worldwide on mental health promotion over the past two decades, what is lacking in many countries around the globe is practical knowledge of what constitutes a population-wide mental health promotion campaign, and how such a campaign can be implemented. This paper provides such knowledge based on the development, implementation and evaluation of the Act-Belong-Commit campaign, the world's first comprehensive population-wide public mental health promotion campaign which was launched in 2008 in Western Australia. Given the learnings from the full-scale implementation and evaluation of the campaign in Western Australia and its expansion nationally and internationally, along with the continuing and expanding evidence base for the campaign constructs, we crystallise 21 reasons why jurisdictions who wish to achieve the goals of the WHO and adopt the recommendations of the European framework on mental health and wellbeing should consider adopting or adapting Act-Belong-Commit when considering implementing a public mental health promotion campaign.

Developing a culturally appropriate branding for a social and emotional wellbeing intervention in an Aboriginal community.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: An initial consultation process to implement a culturally appropriate social and emotional wellbeing campaign in an Aboriginal community indicated that the fundamental principles of the Act-Belong-Commit mental health promotion campaign were acceptable, but that a cultural adaptation of the branding should be sought. METHODS: A competition was held inviting community members to design a brand logo for the campaign in their community. Local judges selected "winners" in various categories, and six of the submissions were selected for testing in the broader community via street intercept interviews. Respondents were asked which logo they liked best, their perceived meanings of the designs and the perceived appropriateness of the designs for a social and emotional wellbeing campaign. RESULTS: A convenience sample of N = 26 local Aboriginal people who lived and/or worked in Roebourne completed the questionnaire. There was a clear majority preference for logo "D," which communicated appropriate meanings of pride and strength in standing together, and reflected the underlying strengths and capacities of Aboriginal people which this project seeks to harness and support. CONCLUSIONS: The approach of using a logo competition to develop the campaign brand was highly successful and enabled further meaningful engagement with the community and other service providers in the town. The success of the competition process resulted from an emphasis on relationship building, listening to the local community and involving the community in decision-making. So what? By conforming to established, but not always adhered to, recommendations for community consultation, successful and more enduring outcomes are likely.