{"id":40552,"date":"2023-10-20T15:08:43","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/acmi-x-resident-startup-sandpit-launches-platform-aiming-to-reduce-the-stigma-surrounding-mental-illness-in-regional-australia-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:08:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:08:43","slug":"acmi-x-resident-startup-sandpit-launches-platform-aiming-to-reduce-the-stigma-surrounding-mental-illness-in-regional-australia-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/acmi-x-resident-startup-sandpit-launches-platform-aiming-to-reduce-the-stigma-surrounding-mental-illness-in-regional-australia-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"ACMI X resident startup Sandpit launches platform aiming to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness in regional Australia &#8211; StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"td-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"332\" itemprop=\"image\" class=\"entry-thumb\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Sandpit-founder-Sam-Heran-Ripple-Effect-creator-and-ACMI-X-resident-640x332.jpg\" alt=\"Sandpit founder Sam Heran - Ripple Effect creator and ACMI X resident\" title=\"Sandpit founder Sam Heran - Ripple Effect creator and ACMI X resident\"\/><\/div>\n<p>An immersive tech company working out of ACMI\u2019s new co-working space has launched a platform aiming to\u00a0curb the high rates of suicide in farming communities across Australia.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/therippleeffect.com.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Ripple Effect<\/a> enables farmers in regional towns to connect, chat, and share experiences anonymously to address issues like the stigma surrounding mental illness and treatment.<\/p>\n<p>Sandpit, which is a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/advice\/growth\/innovation\/creativity-bubbles-at-acmi-x-meet-acmis-first-co-working-residents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">resident of ACMI X<\/a>, developed the \u201conline intervention\u201d platform in collaboration with institutions like the National Centre for Farmer Health (NCFH) and Deakin University for Beyond Blue\u2019s STRIDE Project.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe site is really about allowing people to share their own experiences and to connect with other people\u2019s experiences,\u201d Sandpit founder Sam Haren tells <em>StartupSmart.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not a crisis support service, but it does seek to provide an online place for people affected by suicide to safely share stories and not feel alone in their experiences, he says, and talking about suicide is one of the toughest challenges survivors and people affected by it face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe really hope that it takes a step in helping to break down the stigma around these kinds of issues,\u201d Haren says.<\/p>\n<p>With Australia losing seven people a day to suicide, the Ripple Effect actively seeks out and connects people in rural Australia who may be suffering in silence.<\/p>\n<p>One of the key ways the Ripple Effect does this is by documenting and sharing real, lived experiences.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, Haren and his team\u00a0mailed out 10,000 postcards to farming communities, which asked recipients: If there was one thing you could share about suicide or its stigma, what would it be?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA whole bunch of postcards came back and we were able to digitise those,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>These stories were shared anonymously on the\u00a0Ripple Effect\u00a0and have been used in micro-documentaries.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/h1Pdq1RSXHs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The platform also uses adaptive learning to provide \u201cclinically informed information\u201d that is relevant to each person\u00a0that visits the site.<\/p>\n<p>Haren says this may be guidance, advice and other information to help people dealing with suicide stigma.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn every instance, we\u2019re presenting the bits of information we think are relevant to particular types of users,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<h3>Using technology to\u00a0build a solution<\/h3>\n<p>Haren says the Ripple Effect was developed over 12 months through close consultation with mental health experts from Deakin University and NCFH.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey had the expertise and clinical knowledge around suicide stigma and the information that would be beneficial to share with individuals grappling with that stigma,\u201d Haren says.<\/p>\n<p>As the tech team, Sandpit&#8217;s goal was to create a digital solution to help build healthier and supportive communities affected by high suicide rates.<\/p>\n<p>People affected by suicide and those\u00a0at risk &#8211; particularly men in farming communities aged 30 to 64 &#8211; were the key groups Haren and his team had in mind when designing the platform.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had to make it work for people who may not have quick internet,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were interesting challenges from a technical level.\u00a0We were having very diverse users that the project needed to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The platform also uses adaptive learning technology to provide the most useful information a visitor may need.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of a generic response, Haren says the Ripple Effect platform listens to people and how they respond before determining the best information or stories to share.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe designed a digital project which understands who that person [end-user] is,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re able to listen and adapt to the context of that individual to give them the best version of support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After a year of\u00a0research and development, the platform was launched last month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s incredibly moving is when you hear people\u2019s actual lived experiences and you\u2019re able to connect them,\u201d Haren says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt can help people understand that they\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re able to make the community feel more open and talk about these kinds of issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Ripple Effect project will run for the next nine months.<\/p>\n<p><em>If you or anyone you know needs help:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lifeline.org.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lifeline<\/a>:13 11 14<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kidshelp.com.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kids Helpline<\/a>:1800 551 800<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mensline.org.au\/Home.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MensLine Australia<\/a>:1300 789 978<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Suicide Call Back Service<\/a>:\u00a01300 659 467<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.beyondblue.org.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Beyond Blue<\/a>: 1300 22 46 36<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.headspace.org.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Headspace<\/a>:1800 650 890<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An immersive tech company working out of ACMI\u2019s new co-working space has launched a platform aiming to\u00a0curb the high rates<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40552"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}