Goodbye Topic Tuesday, hello Mental Health Recovery Webinars

[espressologic]

As we approach the tenth anniversary of the SANE Forums this year, it’s time to say goodbye to one of our long-running monthly events, Topic Tuesday. 

For each event, a different topic and guest was chosen and a guided Q&A-style discussion held in a dedicated forum thread, where forum members could join in and share their experiences in a recovery-oriented discussion. 

Topics were chosen based on a mixture of awareness days, collaboration opportunities with SANE’s partner organisations in the mental health sector, and emerging themes from other forums discussions.

After a thorough review of participation over the past year, it has become clear that despite our best efforts, Topic Tuesday in its current form was no longer resonating with members.  Attendance was consistently low, with less than 1% of active forum members engaging in these events.

Therefore, we’ve taken the decision to retire Topic Tuesday and try something new. 

Recent consultations with forum members through our co-design hub have indicated that there is a desire for us to introduce more interactive and structured learning opportunities that support mental health recovery, education and skill-building, navigating the mental health system, social connection, and peer-to-peer support. 

We’re keen to try this out under the theme of Mental Health Recovery Webinars. 

These will be held in an evening timeslot (7pm AEST) using the Zoom platform and will consist of a presentation and/or panel discussion on a mental health recovery topic, followed by time for participants to ask questions in the chat.  Once the webinar is finished, the recording will be available on the forums in a dedicated thread so discussion on that topic can continue.

In this thread, we’d like to hear:

• Any feedback and questions on this idea
• Topic suggestions for the webinars

To help get you thinking, we’ve analysed the content of forum posts made in March and identified three potential topic areas:

1. Navigating mental health services and self-advocacy with providers
2. Coping with grief and loss
3. Maintaining routines in managing mental health

We look forward to hearing from you.

[Shaz51]

Wow 10 years @espressologic 

Some of us members have been here since 2015 

@tyme 

[puzzlingdino]

The main reason that I wasn't be able to participate in Topic Tuesdays as often as I would like was because I wasn't available at the time they were held. So for anyone else like me, this change wouldn't make a difference to whether or not we would attend on the actual night, but it sounds like it would give us more opportunity to engage after the fact, which is a positive. And hopefully most forum members are free at that time anyway and you will see an increase in numbers with this new approach 🙂 

I like that there will be the opportunity for the discussion to be continued on the forums afterwards, as this means forum members will still be able to share their own insights on the topic (even if it's not in the actual webinar), which was the part I enjoyed most about the Topic Tuesdays. I am wondering though if it might be possible to include a transcript of the webinar as well as a recording, as I know I find it much more difficult to sit and watch a video than to read through a transcript. 

[tyme]

It sounds like timing is a common theme for many here. This is good for us to take this into consideration. @puzzlingdino @Shaz51 

[Shaz51]

Regular and timing is the key @tyme , @espressologic , @puzzlingdino 

I did a couple of topic Tuesday myself 

[tyme]

Yes @Shaz51 , me too! Even before I started working at SANE, I also co-facilitated some.

With the Peer Group Chats, we are hoping to roster CGs and/or Peer Guides to facilitate them. CGs/PGs can pick the topic and then run with it. Moderators will be around at the same time so they are not on their own. 

[Shaz51]

Yes I remember @tyme 😊

But I think it will be a good change with Mental health recovery webinars and other programs to go forward 😎

[NatureLover]

Hi @espressologic , thanks for the info. I've never been in a webinar, but I've been on Zoom, and I know that the other person could see my face and I could see the other person. 

Is there a way on Zoom to just chat without the person's image? (For anonymity)

[espressologic]

@NatureLover yes, when Zoom is in the webinar mode then the only people with cameras on are the presenters.  As an attendee, only your chosen handle would be visible which you can set before you enter the webinar.  😀

[espressologic]

@puzzlingdino Yes, we would be able to arrange transcripts.  This is something we haven't been keeping up with lately on the Peer Group Chats due to resourcing, but it is good to know that people find them useful as I wasn't sure how many people read these.