Peer Moderator
Role Description Revised August, 2016 What is a Moderator? ReachOut.com Moderators contribute to the day to day operation of the ​ReachOut.com forums​ and the community that thrives within it. Moderators are the leaders of the community and have the skills needed to guide and support its members. Moderators provide peer support to members of the community, help out with technical stuff like risk management and spam control as well as helping to develop and implement community development strategies. You need to be aged ​18­25 and live in Australia​ to apply to become a Moderator. You must also ​complete training​ and ​participate as a ​Builder​ for 2 hours a week for at least 2 weeks​. Why become a Moderator? Volunteering as a Moderator is great for anyone studying in the health or community sector. Being a ReachOut.com Moderator is a great way to get experience that will help you build the skills you need as you step up to a career in one of these fields. Moderators have gone on to become Psychologists, Doctors, Nurses, Social Workers, Researchers, Health Promotion experts and employees of ReachOut! ReachOut Australia Head Office Ground Floor, 97 Church St Camperdown NSW 2050 T: +61 2 8029 7777 E: ​[email protected] W: reachout.com/about ABN 27 075 428 787 DGR 442 641 Commitment and eligibility requirements Becoming a Moderator is a big commitment. We ask a lot more of our Moderators than we do of Community Builders both in terms of time commitment and the skill level they need to demonstrate. Moderators are asked to provide 2 hours of time each week for a whole year. All Moderators must also complete training as a Builder and participate in that role for 2 hours a week for a minimum period of 2 weeks. Training Successful applicants for the Moderator role have skills in​ peer­support, community building, community management, self care and mentoring​. Don’t worry if you have a few gaps; we’ll give you lots of training and support. Training for the moderation role is ​held in Sydney once a year and takes 3 days​. You’ll need to be able to attend this training to become a Moderator. Don’t stress though, we’ll pay for flights, food and accommodation :). This year the training is being held from ​Saturday the 26th of November until Monday the 28th of November​. The Peer Moderation program is critical to the success of ReachOut.com by: ●
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Providing mentoring support for members in the community builder role. Contributing to activities that help engage and grow the membership of the community. Building community capacity in mental health literacy and support skills. Fostering a respectful and issues­based community culture (rather than personal, problem focused). Helping to manage the risks associated with user­generated content through identifying content that breaks the house rules. Strengthening our youth participation model and making it for relevant for young people across Australia. Working on research projects and interventions that contribute to the growth and health of the community. Helping all young people be happy and well ​| 2 When acting as a Moderator on behalf of ReachOut a community member has to uphold responsibilities to themselves and others. These can be divided into six areas: ​Peer Support, Self­Care, Community Management, Community Building and Mentoring​. Here’s a bit more about the role, the skills you will need and how you can help us out: Peer Support Moderators are role models and active members of the community forums. Moderators also help build relationships with new members and encourage a culture of peer­support and problem solving. Moderators are capable of recognising good peer­supporters and encourage a supporter to increase their skillset. SPECIFIC TASKS Build positive relationships­ ​It can take a little while to feel comfortable enough to ask for help and talk about what’s on your mind. Moderators help the ReachOut.com forums remain a safe and welcoming space by building rapport with members and contributing to conversations in a way that helps everyone feel welcomed and supported. Provide Peer­Support­ ​Moderators are trained in active listening and basic motivational interviewing techniques. They explore options with community members, resolve ambivalence towards change and encourage a member to take the next step. Provide advice and referral options­ ​Moderators have knowledge of appropriate referral options for forum members in distress. They also link community members to advice in the form of ReachOut content and support members to explore how to practice skills like self­care, distraction and coping mechanisms and safety planning. Moderators know how to empathically support a member to make contact with the appropriate support and provide encouragement to do this. Moderators also know they are part of a much larger team and use the systems in place to draw on the huge amount of support from RO staff. Encourage support within the community­ ​Moderators highlight posts for builders and other community members to follow up on. Moderators work with community members and support them to share their lived experience with other members who could gain benefit from this. They reward and encourage good peer support and provide constructive feedback to builders who might still be getting the hang of things. Helping all young people be happy and well ​| 3 Self Care Moderators are skilled at practicing self care. They know when it’s time to take a step back from their role to recharge their batteries. As leaders of the community, Moderators support each other and other members to look after themselves while looking after others. SPECIFIC TASKS Reflective practice: ​Moderators learn the basics of reflective practice and engage in reflection with the support of RO staff and each other. Moderators are asked to participate in a 1 hour group video chat each month to talk about their role in the community and the support they provide. Moderators also understand when it might be time to talk to a clinical supervisor and how to access one through ReachOut. Help builders write and use a self­care plan: ​As mentors and leaders of the community, Moderators support builders and each other to compose and stick to their self­care plans. They also remember their own self­care plans and keep practicing them. Maintain boundaries: ​Moderators understand the principles and concepts around boundaries. Moderators maintain their boundaries and also support builders to understand and apply the concept in their role in the community. Helping all young people be happy and well ​| 4 Community Management Just like offline communities, online communities need people dedicated to their day­to­day operation. Moderators help with this, providing direction for builders, resolving issues, reporting bugs and helping to develop and test out new features. SPECIFIC TASKS Respond to concerning posts­ ​Moderators are trained to respond to members who are going through a tough time and are able to follow a process for deciding what to do next. Moderators are aware of after hours and business hours response protocols and the support from ReachOut Community Managers. Check in and follow up with members­ ​Ensure that every post is followed up by a Moderator or community member. Moderators also check in on older issues that a member might have been exploring in order to see how things are progressing and provide encouragement and further support. Support people to understand and follow the guidelines­ ​Moderators respond to new members and support them to follow the guidelines. They also edit or remove posts that are inappropriate. Use moderation tools­ ​Moderators are given access to and trained in how to use the tools available to manage the community including Moderator Assist, our computational linguistics driven post monitoring system. Helping all young people be happy and well ​| 5 Community Building Moderators understand the art of growing a healthy and vibrant community. They help plan strategies and interventions to foster that growth and contribute to the day to day activities that foster that growth. SPECIFIC TASKS Recognise and encourage members­ ​Seeking help for the first time can be a scary experience. Moderators make sure new members feel supported as they take their first steps in help seeking. Moderators also recognise and celebrate good peer­support and contribute to activities that reward members who provide this peer­support. Facilitate live chat sessions ­ ​Moderators help to run weekly chat sessions known as getting real sessions (GRS). These chats are held from 8­10pm every monday night. They also engage with special guests with expertise in particular areas of mental health in our monthly Infobus chats. We ask that Moderators help run at least 1 session per month. Create new topics to explore important issues ­​ As someone who is passionate about mental health and an active member of the community, a Moderator often identifies topical issues to explore with the community. Moderators make posts and facilitate discussion around these issues. Helping all young people be happy and well ​| 6 Mentoring Sharing the knowledge and skills you have gained from your experience and training is an important part of being a Moderator. Moderators help Community Builders learn more about Peer Support and give them lots of feedback and support as they learn. SPECIFIC TASKS Participate in basic training and assessment of Community Builders­ ​While all of the training to become a builder can be done independently, it’s always nice to have someone there who can answer your questions. Moderators respond to these questions in the training threads on the forum. Support reflective practice­ ​Reflecting on how you provide support is an important aspect of the learning process. Moderators speak with Builders and each other and encourage reflection on how they are responding to posts in the community. Commitment to role Peer Moderators must commit to a three day moderation training workshop. If completed successfully, Peer Moderators are asked to commit to​ 2 hours a week​ in their role for a twelve month period. During the training workshop, each member will develop their work plan to complete over the period. Each work plan will contribute to the objectives of the forum community. If at any time a Peer Moderator finds that they need a break from the program they must contact the Online Community Coordinator or manager as early as possible to talk through a period of leave. Helping all young people be happy and well ​| 7