A community-based preventative mental wellbeing preparedness program for adults living in rural communities: The Equip Study

The intervention is a modular workshop comprising 7 modules (see below) addressing wellbeing through enhancing social cohesion, coping, preparedness, resilience, psychological flexibility, and mental health. The intervention will be implemented in 9 communities (i.e. sites) in 3 sequential steps (3 sites per step). Steps are fixed to occur sequentially across 2026, with each step lasting approximately 3 months. Which sites are allocated to which steps will be randomised by a Chief Investigator stratified by state. The total duration of the intervention across all nine sites is approximately 9 months. The intervention is co-delivered face to face within each local community by specific members of the project team and community co-facilitators. The intervention is delivered in line with community preferences (e.g., intensity, delivery mode, timing within the step, community location) and tailored to community needs. These community preferences are guided by the use of a community advisory committees in each study site. Community co-facilitators with relevant lived experience will be identified through local advisory groups and trained by the Chief Investigator team to ensure: a) that the program meets local needs, b) that local knowledge is included in the program, c) community ownership of the program, d) ongoing capacity in each community beyond the life of this project through upskilling community members. Co-facilitator training will consist of group-based training for each community. This training will occur approximately 1-4weeks before the intervention is set to be delivered at that site. The intervention will be delivered in-person for approximately 50 participants (per site) who will receive the same intervention and simultaneously in a group setting. The intervention will be delivered specific members of the CI team and include registered Psychologists with a minimum of 5 years experience, and will be co-led by community co-facilitators. The intervention is subdivided into 7 foci which serve as stand-alone modules, each 1 hour in duration. Each module, and thus the entire intervention, involves information provision, discussions, interactive activities such as devising preparedness, and accompanying worksheets. The modules are; 1) working together - peer support and community cohesion, 2) protecting your home and family = physical preparedness, 3) feeling emotionally prepared, part 1 - psychological preparedness for acute events (e.g., fire), 4) feeling emotionally prepared, part 2 - psychological preparedness for subacute events (e.g., drought), 5) wellbeing and burnout - facing stress and challenges, mental health literacy, stress and coping, 6) bringing it all together - consolidation of skills, and 7) future planning - sustainability. The intervention, including all modules and worksheets, were adapted from the Community-based disaster mental health intervention (CBDMI) reported by Welton-Mitchell (2018, PMID: 30223822). Adherence to the intervention will be assessed through workshop attendance and completion of surveys.