At ReachOut, we're driven by a commitment to maximise our impact and make a difference in the lives of young people in Australia.
In recent years, we've embarked on a journey to better understand our social value, enabling us to create more impactful services. This journey has culminated in the launch of our 2022 - 23 Social Impact Report. The report explores ReachOut’s reach, audience engagement and the positive outcomes experienced by those who use our services.
ReachOut’s purpose is to be the trusted and safe digital space empowering young people to feel better. We’ve developed a Social Impact Framework to help us demonstrate how our services can achieve this.
ReachOut’s Social Impact Framework brings together three facets we can measure to tell our impact story — the positive outcomes that result for the audiences we reach who engage with our suite of digital services and products.
Engagement
We measure the digital Engagement of our users, to show the level of interest in our products and services. The more engaged users are, the more strongly they’re on the path to experiencing positive change.
Outcomes
Outcome measurement allows us to capture the changes that we’re confident can be attributed to the use of ReachOut’s digital services. We’ve identified six core areas where we believe ReachOut can achieve positive change for users of our services.
Reach
We measure our Reach to understand our effectiveness as an online service and to find out more about our accessibility to different types of users who access ReachOut’s services, particularly young people who might be more vulnerable to, or at greater risk of, experiencing mental health challenges.
ReachOut’s Social Impact Framework outlines key indicators for Outcomes, Reach and Engagement, across our services for young people, parents and carers, and schools. It gives us a blueprint for measuring our value, which supports accountability and helps us to make decisions driven by data. Our Social Impact Framework guides our data collection work, so that we can build and improve our services and resources to support young people to feel better.
1. Mental health literacy
“I have better knowledge and understanding about mental health”
2. Relief from negative feelings
“I feel better than I did before”
3. Connection
“I feel more connected to others”
4. Validation
“I feel okay about who I am and what I'm experiencing or feeling"
5. Better understanding of self
“I have a better understanding of what I'm/the young person I'm supporting is going through"
6. Sense of agency
“I feel more in control managing challenges to my/my child's mental health”
Theory of Change
A key component of our Social Impact Framework is our Theory of Change model, which links our information and support services to the impacts outlined in our Social Impact Framework. It shows us the logical connection between the work we are doing and how engaging with our services can lead to positive mental health impacts.
Previous Reports
"If I never found the ReachOut Forums, I genuinely don't know whether I'd be here today."
"The school had counsellors ... but I didn't find the counselling helpful ... I was looking for somewhere to go, and I found the ReachOut Forums."
"I used the ReachOut Forums to be able to connect with other non-cisgendered people online, and be able to use their stories to help me feel more confident in my gender."
