The Harrison Riedel Foundation’s mission is to increase the rate of help-seeking by young people in emotional distress. We have created a free App called YourCrew which promotes help-seeking behaviour, increases mental health literacy and facilitates access to professional services when needed.
We know that young people have a high rate of psychological distress and that this can escalate to a level that can for young people be extremely difficult to manage. Without early stage assistance these feelings of distress can, and do, lead to self-harm, suicidal thoughts and suicide events.
Unfortunately, many young people, particularly kids, find it difficult to articulate how they are feeling, or how to access help in a way that is informal and does not add to their distress. Many struggle with communicating with those they are close to and may not be able to develop trusted lines of communication. They may not know about self-help techniques or how to seek help when their distress becomes unmanageable in a safe way.
YourCrew has been specially designed with these challenges and the way young people engage in their world, in mind.
YourCrew is a free, easy to use app that uses modes of technology and communication that kids are familiar with. It helps them set up an informal network of their trusted allies, their Crew, enabling them to signal episodes of distress and to more easily reach out when they need help. It provides self-help tools for early stage management of distress, and information for themselves and their Crew about professional services should they be needed.
The aim of YourCrew is to
-
Increase the level of youth help-seeking for issues small or large
-
Prevent small issues from escalating to a level that young people find difficult or impossible to manage
-
Change the distress pathway from risky behaviour to self-help, advice and help-seeking
-
Increase mental health literacy for both youth and the community
-
Increase knowledge of where to go for help for both youth and community