UniSA 2021 Donor Impact Report - Flipbook - Page 13
Philanthropy enables new
online mental health tools
Farmers have limited access to mental health services
and can be reluctant to seek out help. This is a risk
factor for rural male suicide; in fact, there is a higher
incidence of suicide among the farming population.
can’t control, and access professional
mental health help if necessary,” Dr Kate
Gunn said.
On the back of the success of Dr Gunn’s work
with ifarmwell, The Freemasons of SA and
the NT have recognised the huge need for
improved access to mental health support.
Dr Kate Gunn, Senior
Research Fellow
This motivated Dr Kate Gunn, a Senior
Research Fellow in the Department of Rural
Health at UniSA, to work with farmers to
create www.ifarmwell.com.au, an interactive
self-help website that helps farmers plan to
get the most out of life, and manage distress
effectively.
Thanks to generous support from the Thyne
Reid Foundation and the James and Diana
Ramsay Foundation, Dr Gunn can expand the
ifarmwell website and reach more Australian
farming families.
“ifarmwell gives farmers extra coping
skills to effectively manage things they
In fact, their philanthropic arm Masonic
Charities made a $600,000 multi-year
commitment to support the research
partnership between the University of South
Australia and the University of Adelaide.
This significant donation will enable the
research team to work with consumers
to develop a practical, accessible online
wellbeing tool which GPs and other health
professionals will refer their patients to at the
first signs of depression and/or stress.
“The goal is to improve every Australian’s
access to timely, free, psychological
support and self-help strategies at an
early stage to prevent the development
of more serious mental health problems,
while they are waiting to access face to
face mental health services,” Dr Kate Gunn
said.
Inspiring hope for mental health breakthroughs
The Breakthrough Mental Health
Research Foundation (Breakthrough)
has partnered with UniSA to investigate
mental health triggers in these
areas and look at the most effective
treatments.
UniSA researchers have won $100,000
to fund key mental health projects
to help young women, veterans, and
stroke patients, who often struggle with
depression.
Together, we can achieve something remarkable
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