For almost 10 years, batyr has been front and centre in the youth mental health space, building strong relationships with leaders around the world to share best practice and find new ways of creating impact.
Through all of this, a key focus has been working closely with young people from a diverse range of backgrounds to share stories of hope and resilience that empower other young people to have positive conversations about mental health.
Sharing real stories from real young people is incredibly powerful in decreasing stigma and increasing help seeking. We’ve seen this through our peer-to-peer programs that have reached almost 300,000 young people since 2011. It is through giving a platform to these experiences that we have learnt so much and continue to improve and evolve our programs. We have also partnered with researchers over the years to conduct a number of studies so we could gain a more in depth understanding of the impact we are having, and to listen on a deeper level to what young people are saying.
2020 and the unexpected implications of COVID-19 brought to light just how connected the world is with the critical issue of mental health. But for many years before this, batyr has been approached by, and connected with multiple organisations across the world in order to share approaches, methodologies and best practice in preventative mental health initiatives.
Building off these projects, partnerships and insights, we want to continue to find ways to amplify stories for young people and decision-makers in order to have greater impact and create long lasting change.
Leading the charge to listen to and learn from young people
Based on hearing valuable insights from tens of thousands of young people each year, we could not be more excited to be launching a new Data and Insights Team! This team will include specially-skilled individuals focussed on making sure that what we are hearing is shared with those that need to listen, changing the game for young people.
Similarly, we have become leaders and experts in sharing lived experience. Working with others around the world, we have been sharing and learning best practice around storytelling and peer-to-peer education, but those learnings need to be translated into action. Complimenting and working closely alongside Data and Insights, we are also very excited to be launching a team focused on Global Impact. This team will elevate the impact of the work we as an organisation are doing, but also the work that can be done across Australia and around the world.
“The introduction of these teams is an exciting time and significant development for batyr. We’re working to play a bigger role in working with the sector and strengthening the great work happening at a policy level, so decision-makers hear directly from the source about what is impacting young people, and what government and service providers can do to address these challenges,” batyr CEO Nic Brown said.
So far we have surveyed nearly 200,000 young people from our programs. Through this data and the studies we have been a part of, we have learnt a great deal. We are now at the stage where we are ready and set up to share our learnings from working with young people beyond the walls of batyr, including the systems and environments that young people live, work and study.
With these new teams, we will now be able to elevate how we acquire and utilise insights from the young people we speak to each year, truly amplifying their voices and informing research projects, policy, decision-makers and service providers. In addition, with the upcoming release of the OurHerd App, batyr’s first ever digital storytelling platform, we will be able to reach even more young people no matter where they live.
“We know that qualitative data isn’t as sourced in the preventative and early intervention space, particularly when it comes to the voices of young people,” batyr’s Head of Data and Insights Josh Wiseman said.
“The perspectives of young people are critical in the funding, development and implementation of mental health services available in Australia, and the rest of the world.”
batyr’s Head of Global Impact, Stephanie Vasiliou will be leading the charge to create a global network of best practice, learning and sharing expertise across international organisations. Knowledge-sharing and forging strong partnerships will allow batyr to bring valuable expertise to Australia and the work we do, evolving our research, advocacy and the innovative ways of creating a cultural shift around mental health.
“With thousands of young people trusting us each year with what they have to say, we have a responsibility to not only drive a path forward in advocacy, but also in bridging expertise across the world to multiply the impact that’s possible.” Stephanie said.
The teams will include dedicated staff focussed on research, advocacy, project management, fieldwork and most importantly engaging with young people. The addition of skills and experience in digital technology will also drive forward batyr’s new storytelling app, OurHerd.
Get in touch!
We will be looking to partner up with different groups to bring some exciting projects to life. If you’re interested in hearing more, reach out to josh@batyr.com.au or stephanie@batyr.com.au. Stay tuned over the next few weeks as we share more about the projects on the horizon for these teams and how we can work together to capture insights from young people and translate learnings into positive change.
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