YLab partnered with Orygen addressed youth mental health access in Melbourne's North West via a 12-month co-design project, yielding impactful prototypes to enhance agency, diversity, and peer support.

THE CHALLENGE

Access to quality mental health remains a major challenge and need for many young Australians.

In Melbourne’s North West, Orygen are committed to building a system that ensures timely and effective access for young people to get the mental health support they need, when they need it.

WHAT WE DID

YLab and Orygen brought together a team of 15 diverse young people (Associates) with lived experience of mental ill health for a 12 month co-design project. The purpose of this project was to design solutions to barriers to young people’s access to mental health services in the North West of Melbourne. YLab delivered a 2-day training bootcamp in co-design and valuing lived experience for Orygen Associates. Orygen Associates completed co-design for the project during a weekly co-working time, which covered three phases "admiring the problem", "ideation" and "prototyping". Senior Associates were trained and supported to provide coaching to the remaining Orygen Associates during co-working time and over 100 young people were engaged in a range of activities including workshops, interviews, surveys and pop up events.

THE IMPACT

2,032 hours of paid employment for Orygen Associates‍

Three prototypes were developed across three streams which represent primary challenges to accessing services: Passport to me (to combat lack of agency), Community Friendship Bench (to combat lack of diversity), and Innovation in Peer Support Practices (to increase investment in peer support)

An insights report which documented the insights and recommendations‍

2 YLab associates were offered positions at Orygen

Orygen has engaged YLab for a second project which was led by 2 Orygen Associates.Co-desgn participan

'YLab worked passionately and creatively to enable their associates to generate innovative solutions to complex problems, and to begin piloting these.'

Orygen representative