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Healthy Mind

Black Dog Institute

Healthy Mind is an innovative online Easy Read tool developed by the Black Dog Institute to help people with intellectual disability (ID) recognise and regulate their thoughts and feelings for a happier and healthier life.

  • Online

Pricing: Free

Origin: Developed elsewhere but applicable for Australian schools

Product type: Program; Activity sheets; Educator wellbeing resources or services; Learning modules

Contact details

Black Dog Institute
ABN: 12 115 954 197

https://www.healthymind.org.au/#

emh@blackdog.org.au

Focus areas

  • Positive relationships

  • Mental health literacy and life skills

Curriculum alignment

  • Health and PE

Prospective users

Audience: Targeted small group early intervention (Tier 2)

Communities: Neurodiversity or disability

Context: School or centre-based, Outside School Hours Care (OSHC), Home-schooling, E-schools

Main beneficiaries: Year 11, Year 12

Delivery style: Classroom teacher is trained; Delivered by program staff

Aims & approach

Healthy Mind is an accessible online tool for people with intellectual disability (ID), available on desktop and tablet.

Designed to meet user needs, it offers Easy English translations with relatable images, audio for all content, videos, step-by-step guides, worksheets, and progress sheets.

Five module follows a structured approach with 'Learn about it' for information, 'Watch it' for video explanations, and 'Do it' for practice:

  • Breathe and Relax,
  • Tackling Unhelpful Thinking,
  • Having More Fun,
  • Taming Anger, and
  • Recognising Feelings.

Users can explore modules in any order and revisit parts they find helpful. Free and registration-free, Healthy Mind provides tailored psychological support, supplementing face-to-face therapy when needed.

Implementation support

  • Access to professional facilitator, instructor or mentor

Evidence

The concept of an accessible e-learning mental health tool for people with mild to borderline ID was evaluated for feasibility, accessibility and acceptability throughout 2018 with input from people with ID, carers, support workers, allied health professionals, and mental health clinicians. https://doi.org/10.2196/12958