The Skills fOr Life Adjustment and Resilience Program (SOLAR) program is a brief, five-session, skills-based program that aims to promote wellbeing and can be delivered by trained non mental health practitioners called Coaches (eg., community leaders, health care workers, volunteers and lay people). In this study we are training and supervising Coaches to deliver the program within the communities impacted by bushfire and COVID. People from the community who are having difficulty with stress and adjustment following the bushfires/COVID can access the SOLAR program from Coaches to improve their mental health.
Are you, or someone you know:
The SOLAR program is offered free of charge. As part of this, we are evaluating how useful the program is in improving mood and reducing stress by comparing it to a five-week online program. All participants will be asked to answer some questionnaires before and after the program as part of this evaluation.
You may* be eligible for the Promoting Resilience & Recovery trial if you:
are aged 18 years and over.
reside in a disaster affected rural or regional community in Victoria.
have been substantially impacted by disasters including drought, bushfires and/or COVID-19.
are willing to take part in a five-week program involving either one-on-one sessions with a coach or a self-directed program.
*Other inclusion and exclusion criteria apply, which will be advised upon contact and further assessed during an intake process to confirm eligibility.
After completing some questionnaires, you will be randomised to receive the program either immediately or after receiving some self-help resources. Specifically, you will receive:
OR
For more information about the trial including possible benefits and risks to participation please read our Plain Language Statement.
Yes! By taking part in SOLAR and answering our evaluation questions you are helping us to understand the best ways to support people and communities affected by disaster events. With this evidence, we can build more effective programs and support more people in the future.
Referrers are welcome to contact us if they would like to refer a client.
For additional details on how referrers can support their clients access the Promoting Resilience & Recovery trial at the Phoenix Australia Traumatic Stress Clinic, please read the Frequently Asked Questions document.
The research project is being conducted by a research team at Phoenix Australia which is led by Professor Meaghan O’Donnell. Phoenix Australia is Australia’s national center of excellence in posttraumatic mental health and is located at The University of Melbourne (www.phoenixaustralia.org).
The project is being supported by the Mental Health Professionals’ Network (MHPN), which aims to improve mental health practice and collaborative care within Australia, and supports mental health practitioners through local networks and online professional development programs (www.mhpn.org.au).
The research has been funded by the State Trustees Australia Foundation, which is a philanthropic and charitable giving service that aims to create positive change in the lives of vulnerable community members, and also supports regional communities in Victoria (https://www.statetrustees.com.au/philanthropy-and-charitable-giving).
We obtained leverage funding from the Victorian Government (formerly DHHS) to expand the SOLAR training for Coaches. The expansion includes: COVID-appropriate delivery of training which included the development of a streamlined online and virtually-delivered program, an increase in the number of training sessions delivered, and the recruitment and training of coaches from more bushfire impacted regions in rural Victoria.
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