Internal
Why are young Muslims not seeking out mental health support?
Why are young Muslims not seeking out mental health support?
I led a design research project to understand why young Muslims in the UK aren't seeking out mental health support, and what can be done to encourage them.
I led a design research project to understand why young Muslims in the UK aren't seeking out mental health support, and what can be done to encourage them.
The challenge
The challenge
A 2019 survey conducted by Muslim Youth Helpline, surveying 1077 young Muslims in the UK aged 18-35, revealed that 63% had suffered from anxiety and 52% had suffered from depression, yet over 1/3 did not turn to anyone for support. I wanted to understand why this was the case.
A 2019 survey conducted by Muslim Youth Helpline, surveying 1077 young Muslims in the UK aged 18-35, revealed that 63% had suffered from anxiety and 52% had suffered from depression, yet over 1/3 did not turn to anyone for support. I wanted to understand why this was the case.
The result
The result
4 key themes highlighting some of the barriers young Muslims face to seeking out mental health support, as well as suggestions for interventions that could address these barriers.
4 key themes highlighting some of the barriers young Muslims face to seeking out mental health support, as well as suggestions for interventions that could address these barriers.
The approach
The approach
This was a design led research project with the aim of using creative co-design methods to encourage young Muslims to share their experiences. The two main research methods used were an online qualitative survey (using our very own ekota!) and an in person co-design workshop. As this was an internal project at CogCo, it was a chance to explore new methods we hadn’t tried before and document any learnings from that.
The first step was to work on the ekota survey, which involved creating the survey, developing an ad campaign for social media to recruit participants, and reaching out to community organisations who work in this space and might be interested in sharing the survey on their pages. The reason for using social media ads and posts as the recruitment method was because of the demographic I was targeting, as young Muslims are incredibly hard to source through traditional recruitment panels. Also, I wanted to reach people in a more organic way through social media and community organisations in the hope of attracting participants genuinely interested in the topic.
The survey was opened to Muslims aged 18-35 across the UK, with the question being ‘What barriers do young Muslims experience in seeking out mental health support?’
This was a design led research project with the aim of using creative co-design methods to encourage young Muslims to share their experiences. The two main research methods used were an online qualitative survey (using our very own ekota!) and an in person co-design workshop. As this was an internal project at CogCo, it was a chance to explore new methods we hadn’t tried before and document any learnings from that.
The first step was to work on the ekota survey, which involved creating the survey, developing an ad campaign for social media to recruit participants, and reaching out to community organisations who work in this space and might be interested in sharing the survey on their pages. The reason for using social media ads and posts as the recruitment method was because of the demographic I was targeting, as young Muslims are incredibly hard to source through traditional recruitment panels. Also, I wanted to reach people in a more organic way through social media and community organisations in the hope of attracting participants genuinely interested in the topic.
The survey was opened to Muslims aged 18-35 across the UK, with the question being ‘What barriers do young Muslims experience in seeking out mental health support?’
The second research method was an in person, creative co-design workshop, where participants created zines in order to describe their experiences with mental health. The reason for choosing this method was that it was creative, accessible (no art skills required) and allowed to share personal, potentially difficult experiences, in a way that is less direct than a typical interview or survey. They could share in any format, be it pictures or words.
The second research method was an in person, creative co-design workshop, where participants created zines in order to describe their experiences with mental health. The reason for choosing this method was that it was creative, accessible (no art skills required) and allowed to share personal, potentially difficult experiences, in a way that is less direct than a typical interview or survey. They could share in any format, be it pictures or words.
Explore more
Explore more
