About R U OK?
R U OK? is a public health promotion charity that encourages people to stay connected and have conversations that can help others through difficult times in their lives.
Their work focuses on building the motivation, confidence and skills of the help-giver – the person who can have a meaningful conversation with someone who is struggling with life.
R U OK? contributes to suicide prevention efforts by encouraging people to invest more time in their personal relationships and building the capacity of informal support networks – friends, family and colleagues – to be alert to those around them, have a conversation if they identify signs of distress or difficulty and connect someone to appropriate support, long before they’re in crisis.
The website explains the four steps to having a conversation that could change a life:
- Ask R U OK?
- Listen
- Encourage action
- Check in
The website also has a range of useful resources, stories, workplace resources, a chit chat channel to share personal stories and more.
Who is R U OK? for?
R U OK? is for anyone experiencing mental health challenges or concerned about the well-being of others.
Is there a cost to use R U Ok??
No – R U OK? is free to access and use.
How to access R U OK?
R U OK? can be accessed at https://www.ruok.org.au/
R U OK? Research and Evaluation
The following papers evaluated the R U OK? Day campaign for public awareness and effectiveness.
Ross, A. M., & Bassilios, B. (2019). Australian RU OK? Day campaign: improving helping beliefs, intentions and behaviours. International journal of mental health systems, 13, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-019-0317-4
Mok, K., Donovan, R., Hocking, B., Maher, B., Lewis, R., & Pirkis, J. (2016). Stimulating community action for suicide prevention: findings on the effectiveness of the Australian RU OK? Campaign. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 18(4), 213-221. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623730.2016.1209423
