Dr Alyssa Morse

Alyssa is a lived experience researcher at the Centre for Mental Health Research.

Current Projects

We live in our own world: Exploring and prioritising the experiences and care needs of young people who support a sibling with mental illness 

This project aims to improve our understanding of the support needs of young people young caring for a sibling with mental illness, and to develop high priority targets for research aiming to address those needs. I will engage with young people aged 18-25 from across Australia through focus groups and surveys to explore their experiences and perspectives and identify key areas of need with the best potential for real-world impact. To best support young people, it is crucial to develop an understanding of the sibling experience from their own perspective.

This project was funded by the ALIVE Next Generation Researcher Network 2022 Seed Funding Scheme.

Lived experience mental health education: Motivations, experiences, and outcomes for volunteer educators

The aim of this project is to explore the experiences of MIEACT lived experience volunteer educators, focusing on what it is like to write and share lived experience stories. Lived experience educators are an important part of mental health education and stigma reduction. At the moment, we don’t know a lot about how sharing stories of lived experience affects lived experience educators, especially when they are working in community or school-based settings. We hope that this research project will highlight the benefits and challenges of being a lived experience educator, and key ways to support them to do their work effectively. The results of the research may also inform the development of other mental health awareness and stigma reduction programs that include lived experience educators. 

This project is being conducted in collaboration with Mental Illness Education ACT (MIEACT).

Past Projects

Safe Haven Café evaluation: Effectiveness and feasibility of an innovative, co-designed, NSW Premier’s Priority alternative to the emergency department (SPA Post-Doctoral Fellowship)

This co-created evaluation aimed to establish the feasibility and effectiveness of the South Western Sydney LHD Safe Havens as a genuine alternative for people experiencing suicidal crisis or distress who would usually present to the ED or choose not to access the ED due to past negative experiences. Emphasis was placed on the experiences of Safe Haven guests and peer workers, the value of the service for them, and its impact on organisational culture in the local health system. 

My Mind, My Voice Evaluation

The My Mind My Voice (MMMV) initiative aims to promote mental health and wellbeing within Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities in the ACT. Mental Illness Education ACT (MIEACT) deliver the initiative, working in partnership with local multicultural organisations, community groups and lived experience volunteers to co-create culturally and linguistically relevant and specific education resources, including videos, podcasts, and information sheets. In 2022, we conducted a qualitative evaluation of the early stages of the MMMV initiative. Participant feedback for MMMV was overwhelmingly positive and supported the success of the initiative in providing a safe and culturally inclusive space to develop community-led mental health and wellbeing education resources. Constructive feedback typically centred on ways to extend or continue the work of MMMV, indicating sustained demand for the initiative in the ACT. The outcomes of the evaluation provide evidence of the success of the collaborative approach applied in the My Mind My Voice initiative, highlight aspects of the initiative that were of particular value to participants, and may inform future evaluations of the impact of the initiative’s current suit of online education resources. 

Mental Health and Me Evaluation

Mental Health and Me has been running in the ACT for over 25 years. Delivered by Mental Illness Education ACT (MIEACT), the youth mental health promotion program combines lived experience stories with evidence-based content to address stigma and promote help seeking. In 2020, our research team conducted an independent impact evaluation of Mental Health and Me, validating and contributing to MIEACT’s ongoing evaluation practices. The central role of lived experience was a key strength of the program, and educators’ openness with their personal stories was valued and enjoyed. Students and school staff reported that the program delivered its intended impacts on stigma and help seeking, and additionally improved mental health literacy.

Whose story is it?

This project explored mental health consumer and carer perspectives on procedural research ethics and shared story-telling in research settings. The project had a particular focus on mental health research involving carers and stories of their lived experience. A discussion forum and in-depth interviews with consumers, carers and lived-experience researchers from the ACT were conducted and analysed to explore these issues. The next stage of the project will use the findings from this data to develop practice recommendations for researchers and Human Research Ethics Committees.

Silence is Deadly

Young men are consistently less likely to seek help for mental health problems than their female peers.This  controlled mixed-methods trial aimed to determine the effectiveness of the Silence is Deadly program in increasing positive help-seeking intentions for mental health problems and suicide among male secondary school students. A two-arm controlled trial was conducted with 10 schools in the Australian Capital Territory. A total of 594 male adolescents aged between 16 and 18 years participated in the study. At follow-up, the Silence is Deadly program was found to significantly increase help-seeking intentions from friends, which was in line with the program’s messaging to seek help from and provide support to friends in times of distress or suicide risk.

Understanding Participation: Measuring the value and impact of consumer and carer voices in services and policy

How do we effectively include people with lived experience in the research process? Are their voices being heard and integrated at the level of health policy and services? And how are they valued by the people who are listening? The Understanding Participation project was designed in partnership with a working group of representatives from Health Care Consumers’ Association (HCCA), The ACT Mental Health Consumer Network (ACTMHCN), Carers ACT, the ACT Health Directorate, and independent consumer and carer representatives from the ACACIA Advisory Group. Using grounded theory methods, the project aimed to understand the current nature of consumer and carer participation in the Australian Capital Territory and to explore the concept and meaning of value in this context. Study findings highlighted the key ingredients for active and meaningful lived experience participation, including timeliness, respectful and constructive relationships, and genuine commitment to participation processes. Barriers to these processes and their potential solutions were also identified.

This project was funded by an RSPH Excellence in Population Health Research Award.

B Psych (Hons), AMusA, PhD

• Improving lived experience involvement in research, health services and health policy 

• Prevention and promotion in youth mental health

• Mental health service evaluation and design