OUTCOMES for PARTICIPANTS

Objective Knowledge, ideas and insight gained

Method Questionnaire with Highly Engaged Participants

Question How much knowledge, ideas and insight did they gain through the A Good Mind To

podcast project?

Average Rating 9 out of 10 with 1 being not at all and 10 being the most imagined.

Reflections from participants on why they gave their ratings

“This project gave me insight. It gave me reassurance that I am not crazy.. It’s not all in my head. It helped me feel that people actually care. People clearly want to listen to my story and what I think and what I have to say. My self esteem has really gone up. I was starting to think that I should give up… on my music. I mean I am always gunna write stuff. But this made me think others are interested.”

“Meeting the other two people in the podcast and hearing their stories helped me learn about what others go through with our shared experiences. I have had low self-esteem issues since I was a child. I never feel like I'm important enough to speak up. After years of work in my own head, I am taking part in a project where I felt I was in control of it and could have less restraint and could be myself”

“Being part of a collaborative project has given me hope that there are other people who think differently about mental health and are happy to talk about their different approaches. A diversity of perspectives is so important because it gives people different ways of making sense of their experiences. We need more innovation in the mental health sector, and this podcast series moves us in that direction. Sometimes I feel like I am talking to a brick wall. Because I work part-time in the public mental health system, traditional psychiatric models apply. As a peer worker I seek to bring my recovery experience into play, but the 'experts' don't always think my experience is of any value. The people I work with mainly do, but the system is geared towards seeing mental ill health as a disease of the brain, rather than a wound in the soul. And I mean soul in the Platonic sense, as the animating force of a human being. I very rarely get to talk about philosophy so it was great to be able to just to speak my mind.”

Objective Voice and Agency Enabled

Method Questionnaire with Highly Engaged Participants

Question How much were the participant’s voice and agency enabled through the A Good

Mind To podcast project?

Average Rating 9.71 out of 10 AFTER A Good Mind To activities.

5.43 out of 10 AFTER A Good Mind To activities.

Reflections from participants on why they gave their ratings

“We need to get the story of Stolen Generation and Aboriginal people out in many different ways. Share the stories. Before, we didn’t have that voice. We did not say anything to anybody. We were not allowed. Having a podcast gets us the opportunity to speak the truth. And others will hear that. I have been doing many things as an Elder so I already had a sense of my voice and agency. But this podcast really added to it. Tremendous for the story

I still think the podcast reminds of sitting in front of a wireless. It is a great format. But this way you have lot of choice. I never knew what a podcast was. Sometimes when I read a book I start to fall asleep. But when I discovered podcasts I can rest. I can go on the journey. It’s quite fascinating. I think we would find that other Elders would listen. People did sit back and listen to the wireless… so I think it would be good for Elders… so it a new way to reach older people. They could be like me… and get tired when reading. Papers could disappear in time but the podcast will be around for a very long time. It is like an archive.”

“What have I learned from this?  I am this strong, probably too outspoken woman.. despite myself… For a couple of weeks after we recorded the story I went inside my shell wondering if I'd done the right thing. And then somewhere along the line I realised that, yes, actually the podcast was the right thing… There was a weight lifted off my shoulder. I’ve gained the insight that, you know, I'm a pretty pretty nice kind of person. My voice or my agency was enabled because nobody tried to change the wording that I had used. It was me talking my views. My opinions, whether you like it or not. This is who I am. Prior to this I would talk to people about my experiences… I tried to talk to people about what had happened to me. Sometimes most of them just sort of feigned interest or looked at me weirdly. Maybe some didn't believe me. Just like the primary school Catholic nuns didn't believe me. I just know that before agreeing to do this podcast, I wouldn't necessarily talk about the abuse that I had. Whereas after this podcast, I'm quite open about it. I think doing this podcast gave me the freedom to feel safe to talk openly about what has happened to me.”

Individual Rate of Change Graph

This graph shows the rate of change for each respondent. The darker line indicate more respondents showing the same before and after scores. 

More reflections from participants

“From the the episode I’ve listened to and the episode I've been involved and with being involved in the some of the planning work leading up to the series…. I just learned a lot about the different contexts of the different paths that people are walking on. And there are different energies people bring to the telling of their stories. That's that's always great. The epilepsy episode is fantastic in as much as there's a big history behind that story as well as the personal stories that are told in that episode. And it's one that I really connect with being a childhood sufferer of Epilepsy myself. And I also enjoyed thinking about some of the background stuff about how podcast are hosted and all that sort of thing. I thought I felt Phil was very open in listening to the stories that were being offered. And that was my personal experience in making the podcast. But I also for on a personal level, I think sometimes it's really tiring to try and tell your story over and over and over. And when you do a public reading, it's a one hit wonder. But with the podcast, I kind of feel like with it being there and accessible, I could probably say to someone, Look, I don't feel like talking about that at the moment, but here’s this podcast episode that gives you a background of where I'm at and what I'm talking about and yeah, I think that gives me agency because of the, the comfort level that you have of being able to refer it to somebody if you're not up to actually spelling it out on a regular basis.”

“I already had developed a lot of insight into my mental health but by creating this podcast it felt healing, and as if I was taking ownership of my story. I also just really enjoyed the process and doing something different! Being a peer worker had really helped me to develop the skills to safely share lived experience but this allowed me to share those skills in a way that was super empowering and all mine. This project gave me some more confidence to speak even more openly about my experiences.“

OUTCOMES for LISTENERS

Objective Knowledge, ideas and insight gained

Method Questionnaire with Audience

Question How much knowledge, ideas and insight did they gain through listening to A Good

Mind To?

Average Rating 8.5 out of 10 with 1 being not at all and 10 being the most imagined.

Reflections from listeners on why they gave their ratings

“It made me think more deeply about disempowerment and having one's voice silenced about abuse and how it impacts on mental health and relationships with others. it also made me think about how perpetrators use guilt and a sense of responsibility to protect family to manipulate victims. I found the podcast very easy to listen to, there was humour and wisdom in the strategies that the presenter uses to cope.”

“Meeting the other two people in the podcast and hearing their stories helped me learn about what others go through with our shared experiences. I have had low self-esteem issues since I was a child. I never feel like I'm important enough to speak up. After years of work in my own head, I am taking part in a project where I felt I was in control of it and could have less restraint and could be myself”

“I guess I've done a lot of study in this area over the years, but I found that really powerful to be listening to somebody's story and actually to do it in that interview style where I really got to hear the voice of the person with the lived experience and some some great questions and insights. I think what I learned about that and what I found, I mean, it was all really, really interesting. But I loved that idea that everybody's entitled to a Sooky Sooky La La day. I think, you know, these days we call them a mental health day, but I love the idea of a Sooky Sooky La La or a pity party for one where it's just okay to watch TV and eat some rubbish and not brush your teeth. It was really great. Look, it was just really, really great to hear the voice of lived experience and it was really great to do the here, the follow up and to hear how just speaking about it had made a difference for Dalia and that yeah, that that sharing of her story was actually a positive thing for her was was really great.”

“The diversity of experience skilfully woven into really accessible podcasts stimulate knowledge, ideas and insights.”

“This is a such a wonderful and well made podcast. I'm a clinical psychologist with 20 years experience (currently teaching at UOW) and with an interest in lived experience, person-centred approaches to mental health care. I've listened to almost all the episodes and the stories are beautiful, respectfully told and important. I've recommended this to several colleagues and students! The production was really good, and the presenter is great in that he allows enough space for the centred person to tell their story.”

“As a non-Aboriginal Australian, I can't fully enter into the experience of someone who was taken away from her family and exposed to brutal punishments, leaving a legacy of life-long trauma.  However, the sharing by Aunty Lindy and the sensitive support and sharing by Trish was deeply moving and gave me a greater motivation to be supportive and caring for the experience of First Nations folk in our area.  Very thankful. Deeply moved by the Aunt Lindy's account of discovering culturally appropriate ways to move forward in healing from trauma.”

“Very beneficial to hear from the perspectives of people who have been through challenges and their journey to find support. Very well constructed , engaging , interesting and kept me wanting to listen to more.”

“I like hearing stories of ordinary people across demographics and backgrounds sharing their own experiences and normalising mental health challenges and the types of supports they use. It was a great listening experience. The production crew brought together amazing content and presented it in a structured yet informal manner. Really good work.”

“The podcast brought the issues to a very personal level that gave an 'un-edited' version of how life felt for that person. Down to earth.”

“Hearing people's stories of personal hardship and how they got through was helpful. Even the hard to hear stuff was delivered in a way that was wrapped up carefully, so that, I, as a listener felt safe. I gained a better insight into a quite a few things, including very personal experiences with; epilepsy, the stolen generation and Art as a form of therapy. I was particularly moved by the first episode where the woman speaks of her childhood abuse and no one believing her when she spoke out, but as she gets older and learns about her rights, she gains the confidence and courage to tell her abuser to stop. I think the reason this is stands out is that I believe hearing this could be really helpful for someone who may be going through a similar experience. In general, I found all episodes  interesting, informative and well-balanced in the delivery. “

“I’ve listened to the first two episodes. I work in trauma and mental health, and still learned so much. Listening to these women speak - hearing their own stories - was really enlightening. Hearing the importance of having space to use own voice and words, hearing the importance of and impact of childhood and hope for the future conveys the message through action. Aunty Lindy’s story. Very raw and direct. “

“Hearing about the intervention at the AMS and importance of cultural healing was great. I’ve heard the theory but this was the impact in practice! Also the way the stories are told demonstrates the ethics of self-authorship.”

“I work extensively in the field of mental health as a lived experience advocate so I am very familiar with the subject material but there is nothing that can substitute for people with lived experience sharing their own insights on who they are and how they see the world. It humanises what often remains for too clinical - the humans themselves. I love the creative ways people are supported to explore storytelling. I also love the way the spoken word and music is curated and mixed.”

“Despite the fact that I feel I have a good general knowledge and some personal experience of the issues people face with their mental health, the podcast is a very good reminder that every experience is different. I was particularly interested in the episode about epilepsy and seizures. I agree that they are not well understood by the general population and even some medical professionals.”