The peer2me Co-design Journey
Our project, titled, Empowering Young Women through Mental Health Peer Support sought to learn from young women what they wanted when it came to supporting their mental wellbeing.
Both stages of this project were funded through grants from the Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation.
We are very grateful for their support.
Our approach was informed by the outcomes of national and international research, which found that for young women mental health services frequently overlook the gendered nature of the experiences that underpin young women’s experiences of mental ill health, and that for many young people, friends provide critical support around mental health – often more than mental health professionals and parents or guardians.
Led by Professor Nicole Moulding and Dr Michele Jarldorn, from Justice & Society at the University of South Australia, the project used a mixed methods approach, with one of the key outcomes being the creation of a website, co-designed by and with the project participants.
The peer2me website takes an intersectional, trauma-informed and gender-responsive approach to mental wellbeing for young women.
The project was conducted in 2 stages.
Stage 1 (2022):
UniSA Professor Nicole Moulding had heard about a similar project in the UK. She went and met with the organisation and wondered how something similar might work for young women in Australia.
The team reviewed the existing literature on the subject matter. This included a student review of all of the available mental health apps directed at young women. Most apps were only free to a certain extent and then required regular payment via a credit card. Privacy was a key concern here because payment requires revealing identity.
Based on the research an an anonymous survey was designed and distributed.
From this survey, a smaller group of women was recruited who participated in online focus groups.
The research was summarised in the paper What do young women want? Using a qualitative survey to explore the potential for feminist-informed mental health peer support published in October 2022.
Stage 2 (2023):
Five of the women from the online focus group have become our core group and formed part of the co-design team working with us to design the 'Peer 2 Me' website in 2023.
Five of the women who participated in the online focus groups worked with us throughout 2022 and 2023 to co-design the peer2me website. We used Trello – an online, shared workspace application – to collect, store and sort heaps of useful resources the young women curated for the website. We also met online many times to work with Kirstie, our project website builder to ensure that ideas and feedback were implemented along the way. This website is the culmination of the young women’s ideas and input.
In addition to the Stage 1 paper we have another paper currently under review.
We also have secured a book contract where the entire project team will contribute to the finished product.
Moulding, N., Jarldorn, M. & Deuter, K. (2024) What do young women want? Using a qualitative survey to explore the potential for feminist-informed mental health peer support. Qualitative Social Work:
View online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364125679_What_do_young_women_want_Using_a_qualitative_survey_to_explore_the_potential_for_feminist-informed_mental_health_peer_support
PDF: Download PDF
This paper cited our research:
Tseris, E. (2023). Placing women's mental health in context: The value of a feminist paradigm. Australian Journal of General Practice, 52(7):449-453.
DOI: 10.31128/AJGP-02-23-6715