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The WellBeing Project

 

What is the WellBeing Project?

The WellBeing project is a large study of emotional health and self-help methods for improving wellbeing using the Internet.

Who is conducting the project?

The project is being conducted by the Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR), based at The Australian National University. CMHR is well known in Australia and overseas for its high quality research on mental health and self-help programs.

The research team working on the WellBeing project are Associate Professor Kathy Griffiths and Professors Helen Christensen and Andrew Mackinnon. Associate Professor Griffiths is the Director of CMHR’s e-mental health research and development Unit (e-hub) and has worked extensively in the area of depression and the Internet with Professor Christensen who is the Director of CMHR. Professor Mackinnon was until recently the Deputy Director of CMHR and now works at the University of Melbourne. He has expertise in the area of research study design and statistics.

Why is this research important?

Emotional health is very important to the quality of our lives. We want to know more about the emotional health of people in the community so we can find ways of improving the wellbeing of all Australians.

What is the project about?

The project involves two separate stages. These are:

• The WellBeing Survey. This is a large survey of 35,000 people aged between18 and 65 years. It is aimed at finding out more about the emotional health of Australians in the city as well as in rural areas. People who have been randomly selected to participate don’t need to have experienced emotional problems or know about mental health to participate. In fact, the more people who answer the survey, the more meaningful the study results will be.
• The WellBeing Promotion Study. This is a smaller study involving about 500 people. It is designed to look at the usefulness of self-help Internet programs for improving emotional wellbeing and preventing or reducing the symptoms of depression. The 500 people in this trial will be chosen from among those people who return the enclosed survey and are willing to participate in the study.

What does participation involve?

The WellBeing Promotion study lasts 12 weeks and may take about half an hour of your time each week. At the end of the 12 weeks participants will be asked to complete a follow-up survey about the issues covered by the study. We will also contact participants 6 months after the study and then again after 12 months.

Are there any risks?

We believe that most people participating in the project will enjoy the experience and find it valuable. However, some people may become upset. If the WellBeing Survey upsets you, we suggest that you stop filling it out. Those who volunteer for the Wellbeing Promotion Study can withdraw from the study at any time without explaining why.

Why should I particpate?

Many people enjoy their involvement in research because they like contributing to activities that will benefit the whole community. If you participate in the WellBeing promotion project you may find out more about how to improve your emotional health, and learn self-help skills that might help you deal with day-to-day living.

What about privacy?

Because of the personal nature of the information we collect, it is important that you know that every phase of our research is carried out strictly in accordance with National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines. Personal information is stored separately from data and under strict security in hard copy form and/or on password protected computers at the ANU. Data are only accessible to authorised project staff. The results of the project may be published in reports to be distributed in academic journal articles or reported more broadly. However, no information that can identify any individual will be published. We are committed to maintaining the security of all the information collected throughout this project. The project has been approved by the ANU Human Research Ethics Committee.

How can I find out more?

We appreciate your interest in our project. If you would like further information before deciding to participate or would like to contact us directly at any time to discuss the project, please phone our WellBeing project coordinator Ms Dimity Crisp on (02) 6125 1033 or email wellbeing@anu.edu.au.

If you have any questions about ethics, please contact the Ethics Officer for Human Research, The Australian National University, ACT 0200. Tel: (02) 6125 7945. Email: Human.Ethics.Officer@anu.edu.au.