Creating and sustaining community safety net groups (CSNG), a creative approach to promote positive mental health in rural and remote communities in Australia: experiences and reflections

Experiences from the community development models used in the field of mental health promotion in rural South Australia strongly suggests that CSNG is a vibrant form of development action aimed to promote greater awareness and impact in the rural communities in addressing the stigma attached to mental health. In this poster, the author argues about the rationale of these concepts, explains the process involved in creating a CSNG, briefly describes the challenges in the field and provides tips to overcome the barriers. The author argues that by setting up CSNG's, we are empowering the communities, developing and harnessing the social capital of communities and moreover making a pathway for the mental health consumers to be engaged in communities. The poster also provides a detailed reflection on the process of establishing this model from theoretical perspectives and draws evidence from literature and from professional field experience to suggest its application in other areas