The charitable foundation of Hunter based health insurer, nib health funds (nib) has funded a new national toolkit.

The toolkit has been created for help seekers who aren’t ready to talk to someone else or want to manage their mental health issues themselves first.

nib Foundation Executive Officer, Amy Tribe said the support toolkit provides a much-needed early touchpoint for Hunter people and other Australians looking to improve their mental health and wellbeing.

“We already know there’s demand for the tool, with more than 90,000 visits to the online resource since its pilot launch in September last year,” Amy said.

“Common searches among these visitors were for managing anxiety, depression and substance misuse.

“We’re proud to continue our partnership with Australia’s most recognised mental health service and provide Australians with access to quality self-help tools that we hope will support them to identify and seek out help earlier and avoid reaching crisis point.”

Lifeline Hunter CEO, Rob Sams said the new Support Toolkit is full of practical, plain language information, as well as the best curated tools, apps, techniques and services.

“The toolkit can also benefit those supporting someone else in need, such as a friend or family member in distress, while looking after themselves,” Rob said.

“This Lifeline Support Toolkit is another way we are offering help to people needing mental health and crisis support.

“It is about helping people to access information, tools, and resources, whenever and wherever they need it, on their own terms.

“Sometimes people aren’t comfortable speaking to someone directly. Others who are ready to take positive steps forward but don’t know where to start can use the toolkit to make sense of their experience and take action to manage their wellbeing.

“Lifeline Australia experts have designed the toolkit to support the formation of long-term behaviours and skills that build resilience and prevent crisis.

“Thank you so much to nib and nib Foundation for their continued support of Lifeline Hunter and Lifeline Australia to help prevent suicide and improve mental well-being in our community.”

In 2020, nib in collaboration with nib foundation, helped Lifeline to boost services to young Australians and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in need during the COVID-19 pandemic through text crisis counselling.

IMAGE | Lifeline video counselling.