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Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

Hi everyone,

Moving forward with the next round of improvements from our forums co-design project, we're keen to respond to feedback that the layout of the forums is confusing. To make a start on this, we're looking at updating the discussion categories in the forums to make it clearer where you can find things and post about certain topics.

To set the scene: the SANE Forums currently are actually two forums - a Lived Experience and a Friends, Family & Carers forum. Underneath each of these forums, you have identical sets of categories with really broad titles:

Lived Experience Forum

* Welcome and getting started
* Our stories
* Looking after ourselves
* Social spaces
* Something's not right
* Useful resources
* Special events
* Life after bushfires
* Forum news and updates

Friends, Family & Carers Forum

* Welcome and getting started
* Our stories
* Looking after ourselves
* Social spaces
* Something's not right
* Useful resources
* Special events
* Forum news and updates

So, we have 17 categories spread across two forums, with duplication as you can see.

When we examine the activity across these, we see that 97% of all posts are made in the Lived Experience forum. Within the Lived Experience forum, activity is also unevenly distributed:

* 40% of posts are made in Something's not right

* 41% of posts are made in Social spaces

* 11% of posts are made in Looking after ourselves

* 5% of posts are made in Our stories

* 3% of posts are made in Welcome and getting started

What we are proposing is to reduce this to 10 categories in one single forum (lived experience and friends/family/carers all together).

In the next post, I will set out the draft new categories we've come up with, based on a deep analysis of the themes emerging from the hundreds of thousands of forum posts made in the last 2-3 years.

What we need from you

Have a read of the categories below. How do they sound? Are there any big topics we've missed? How are the descriptions? We'll keep this thread open for feedback and discussion over the next month, until 30 June 2024.

76 replies

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In response to: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

@espressologic my view about trauma and grief (or loss) discussions being in the same area is that it is logical to group them together.

I appreciate your time, follow up and look forward to seeing the forum transition.

with gratitude and respect.

G

In response to: Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

I find there are 2 many areas currently and not sure which is best place to post at times especially when wanting or needing to talk about something and looking for support or help.

i feel it is important that post by everyone is read and responded to on equal playing field. Being responded to in order of being posted regardless of the topic of the posts etc. we are all here on the forums due to our MH health conditions and believe all posts be treated with equal importance.

I agree with @Glisten that area for discussions relating to trauma, grief and loss be in the one area together. For a lot of people these areas overlap and are intertwined.

as someone who has been a Carer, I feel there is not enough information about the forums for carers to know it exists. Agree there can be overlapping when both carer and person being cared for have MH issues. Feel carers, at least, need separate area for them to vent etc or to chat to other carers. To have only one place for everyone to have general chats in could cause carers to feel they can’t openly talk due to there being possibility that person they care for to be able to read what they have written in the forum. Even with everything being anonymous, there is always the possibility and risk that the care recipient will work out the discussion is about them.

my thoughts @espressologic

In response to: Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

@espressologic Scenario - person a dealing with toxic relationship or in relationship where other person is high needs. Either situation emotionally and mentally draining for person a. Person a mainly wanting to talk, be heard, get some support etc. under which new forum category would person a post?

life throws curveballs which can leave people unsure who to trust out side the forums. Times where people want to talk to help ease worries, concerns etc that are on their mind … to be heard, receive empathy/encouragement etc.

In response to: Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

Good question @Former-Member 👍🏼

In response to: Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories


@Former-Member wrote:

@espressologic Scenario - person a dealing with toxic relationship or in relationship where other person is high needs. Either situation emotionally and mentally draining for person a. Person a mainly wanting to talk, be heard, get some support etc. under which new forum category would person a post?

life throws curveballs which can leave people unsure who to trust out side the forums. Times where people want to talk to help ease worries, concerns etc that are on their mind … to be heard, receive empathy/encouragement etc.


A thread like this would seem to best fit

Managing relationships: Discuss issues and seek advice related to family, friendships, romantic relationships, and other interpersonal connections. Share your experiences and get support for relationship challenges.

Re: your first comment about a Carers area, it is already possible in the current set-up for non-carers to read these posts. Do you think there would be value in having a private Carers forum, similar to the Yarning Space idea that we have been trialling?

In response to: Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

@espressologic That is also a good question.

@Former-Member When considering the anonymity and monitoring on the Forum threads what is the likelihood that issues or scenarios will be identifiable? Is that what you are asking?

G

In response to: Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

Do you think there would be value in having a private Carers forum, similar to the Yarning Space idea that we have been trialling? -- very good question @espressologic

I think it would be good

what do you think @Healandlove , @Krishna , @Determined , @outlander , @Pem , @tyme , @Tootsy

In response to: Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

@Shaz51 , yes I think that would be fantastic!🥰

In response to: Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

@Glisten I wasn’t asking a question about the forums being anonymous and possibility of things being identified. Was sharing my concerns.

@espressologic private area for Carers sounds a great idea 🙂

In response to: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

Re: Your feedback needed: Updating our forum categories

I’m all for simple language and calling it what it is…. It helps me and others to navigate (safely) and clearly around our needs. I don’t see an issue with there being ‘too many’ categories in this regard
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