Stronger Minds, Stronger Youth Board Game Research and Engagement
Burwood Council, NSW
We have had the privilege of working with young people in communities across Australia and are always inspired by how resilient, resourceful and passionate they are. CRED Consulting also understands that many young people will deal with a mental health issue – but not everyone is able to or knows how to access help.
In 2018, Burwood Council engaged CRED to engage with young people at local schools to co-design content for the Stronger Minds Stronger Youth (SMSY) Board Game. The SMSY board game will be used to facilitate conversations about mental health in a safe, fun and interactive environment in schools within the Burwood area.
HOW WE DID IT
To identify priority mental health issues for young people living in Burwood to inform the content for the board game, our engagement activities workshops and focus groups with young people at secondary schools in Burwood and Council’s Youth Action group. CRED also facilitated engagement with a project working group which included local service providers.
Focus groups with young people aimed to get them involved in creating the content for the board game as much as possible. Not only did young people draft content for the ‘scenario’ cards, they also worked in groups to create mood boards to inform the look and feel.
To evaluate the Stronger Minds Stronger Youth Board Game, over 200 students from various secondary schools were invited to test the game during a launch at Burwood Girls High School in February 2020, with the game subsequently rolled out to schools across the LGA.
CRED’s Sarah Reilly with Burwood youth celebrating their participation in the Stronger Minds Stronger Youth Board Game (Image Credit:Burwood Council)
OUTCOMES
We surveyed students to understand their experience playing the board game. Overall, students’ experience was positive, with the majority of students indicating that playing the game stimulated useful conversations about mental health; increased their understanding of mental health issues; and increased their understanding of how to talk about mental health issues.
Image credit: Burwood Council
“The game really helped me understand more about my mental health and how others deal with stress and see if i could use some of their tactics. Overall the game was fun and enjoyable and I recommend it to other schools and years.”
Young ‘Stronger Minds Stronger Youth’ participant