"I Understand, Mate": A Co-designed Comic-based Digital Story from 'Down Under'

Australian rural communities face challenges including climatic changes, social isolation, low levels of digital literacy, and higher levels of mental health issues. New services are tailored to meet those most at risk, and to reach and support local people. We showcase a contextually situated, comics-based illustrated digital story. This was co-designed and developed to reach rural men experiencing mental health issues 'Down Under' in rural Australia. Spring-boarding on traditional digital storytelling techniques, we discuss the process of identifying, capturing, co-designing and sharing the illustrated digital story. We highlight how comics may authentically capture and communicate rural mental health issues, while recognising the complexities inherent in this process. Ultimately, we argue co-designed comic-based digital storytelling has potential for sharing rural mental health promotion messages, and service support, with rural community members.

[1]  Karen Lumsden,et al.  ‘Do We Look like Boy Racers?’ The Role of the Folk Devil in Contemporary Moral Panics , 2009 .

[2]  Hilary Davis,et al.  Including the Rural Excluded: Digital Technology and Diverse Community Participation , 2018 .

[3]  K. Kõlves,et al.  Too tough to ask for help? Stoicism and attitudes to mental health professionals in rural Australia. , 2020, Rural and remote health.

[4]  Jean Burgess,et al.  Hearing Ordinary Voices: Cultural Studies, Vernacular Creativity and Digital Storytelling , 2006 .

[5]  M. Hutchinson,et al.  Suicide and drought in New South Wales, Australia, 1970–2007 , 2012, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[6]  Natasha Freidus,et al.  Digital storytelling for reflective practice in communities of learners , 2002, SIGG.

[7]  Satu Anneli Miettinen,et al.  Managing Complexity and Creating Innovation through Design , 2019 .

[8]  N. McGlynn.  Thinking fast and slow. , 2014, Australian veterinary journal.

[9]  Nicola J. Bidwell,et al.  Designing with mobile digital storytelling in rural Africa , 2010, CHI.

[10]  Daniel Alonso Moreno.  Adobe Premiere pro , 2004 .

[11]  Daniel Dunne,et al.  Multimodality or Ludo-Narrative Dissonance: Duality of Presentation in Fringe Media , 2014, IE.

[12]  David G. Hendry.  Communication functions and the adaptation of design representations in interdisciplinary teams , 2004, DIS '04.

[13]  S. Nadin,et al.  Co-Producing Narratives on Access to Care in Rural Communities: Using Digital Storytelling to Foster Social Inclusion of Young People Experiencing Psychosis (Dispatch) , 2018 .

[14]  T. Hazell,et al.  Rural suicide and its prevention: a CRRMH position paper , 2017 .

[15]  G. Horton,et al.  Drought, drying and climate change: Emerging health issues for ageing Australians in rural areas , 2010, Australasian journal on ageing.

[16]  Zena O’Connor,et al.  Colour psychology and colour therapy: Caveat emptor , 2011 .