Australian challenger health content creator Matterworks is disrupting the traditional norms of the health education sector by joining forces with ABC Education to launch two education video series aimed at helping young Australians navigate mental health topics.
Explainer Hacks is a series for tweens that challenges artists, designers and makers to use their creativity to help explain mental health and well-being topics to young people aged between eight-12 years old. In each episode, host and science communicator Lee Constable tackles the research on topics like autism, puberty and screen time, and calls on an inspiring guest to help bring this to life.
Matterworks co-founder Kylie Roberston told EducationDaily that, when it comes to identifying who those inspiring guests will be, “we have a young, talented in-house team with their finger on the pulse when it comes to identifying and connecting with emerging talent across the music, social media, arts, sport, and entertainment industries”.
“The team is hyper-focused on collaborating with talent that represents the cultural, gender and neurodiversity of our audience, and who also share in our vision to positively impact the lives of young people,” she says.
For younger teens, What’s the Point? zeroes in on the ‘what?’ and ‘why?’ of what’s good for you, your body and your mind.
In each episode, host and TikTok creator Aya Al Chalabi (@notjustaya) video calls inspirational friends including professional athletes, performers, influencers and artists to figure out just what it takes to turn good healthy choices into daily habits.
“We’ve worked with guests like watercolour artist Rianna Thomas, who uses her art to create representation for those on the spectrum, and Max and Zoe from collage studio ’that paper joint’, whose mission is to unite people through paper,” Ms Robertson told EducationDaily.
Informed by experts
Matterworks launched in 2022 and is a content & technology studio creating entertainment-led & evidence-based health literacy products for young people & their communities. It aims to do this by distilling research from global leaders in child health and combining the facts with a media-savvy approach to communicate life-changing health information in a way that hopes to be as entertaining as it is engaging.
By using generational media trends, the women behind Matterworks says it develops programs that connect social media vernacular and formats with strong learning outcomes that seek to empower, drive prevention, & create positive change.
Both series are underpinned by quality knowledge and data from the leading Australian medical research body, Murdoch Childrens’ Research Institute – a collaboration that both Ms Roberston, and Matterworks CEO and co-founder Sarah Wyse say ensures a strong evidence base that children, educators and parents can trust.
“We’re extremely proud to be launching these two powerful and compelling content series in partnership with the ABC. Giving people access to trusted sources of health education and information is vital, especially with the proliferation of misinformation and faux science on so many platforms,” Ms Wyse told EducationDaily.
“However, we also know getting this message across needs to be entertaining and engaging as it’s competing against so much other content, which is why we’ve chosen these personalities and formats for these age groups. Matterworks’ job is to distil often complex research into something approachable, trustworthy and fun for the right audiences.”
Video content in the classroom
ABC’s Head of Education, Annabel Astbury, adds: “Both ABC Education and Matterworks have a strong commitment to understanding the way video content is used in the classroom.
We hope these series act as springboards to dive into deeper discussions about mental health and wellbeing. Matterworks’ creative production treatment along with their access to Australia’s top researchers at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute has made this an exciting project to be a part of.”
Keeping up with changing needs
Ms Wyse told EducationDaily that the Matterworks’ team know that “the problems facing young people are constantly evolving”.
“That means the skill sets required to navigate these problems are also changing – whether it’s mental health, well-being or growing concerns around climate change,” she says.
“We also know that the pace of change is at complete odds with an education system that struggles to adapt its curriculum to the generational needs of its audience.”
To meet what they believe is a gap in the delivery of meaningful health education to young Australian, the Matterworks’ commitment is to develop “timely, relatable and accessible educational materials that empower young people with the skills they need to navigate emerging and future health challenges”.
“To do this, we’ve partnered with Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, the largest child health research institute in Australia to focus on the most pressing issues facing children, adolescents, and families,” Ms Wyse told EducationDaily.
Facts delivered with fun
But no matter how fantastic the data is, Ms Robertson says the critical component is “getting the attention of young people and holding that attention long enough to promote learning and behaviour change”.
“Given our extensive backgrounds in media and entertainment, we know how to engage and retain audiences through formats and content that feels familiar to and connects with young people,” she says.
“Translation is also key. We take really complex scientific information and transform this into content designed to educate and entertain. To achieve this, we built a cross-disciplinary team and bespoke approach to production that allows us to look beyond conventional methods of education and explore a diverse range of possibilities from media and entertainment.”
With young people recognised as some of the highest consumers of digital entertainment in the world – including streaming, gaming, and scrolling on a daily basis – Ms Robertson says that, when it comes to school, “they are often engaging in subpar media and digital experiences”.
“We are designing bespoke programs that not only empower young people with the knowledge, understanding, and practical strategies to improve their health and well-being, but do so in a way that is a) familiar, b) feels more peer to peer, and c) fronted by engaging on screen talent that better reflects their own lived experience,” she told EducationDaily.
“The moment we lose sight of this, or take a top-down approach to education, we fail the audience and our mission.”
The age of misinformation
While Ms Wyse says they can’t solve the proliferation of misinformation on social channels, she believes they can play a positive part in educating and empowering teenagers with “the knowledge, tools, and resources necessary to make informed decisions about their health and well-being”.
“Promoting and disseminating trustworthy health information in trusted environments, like ABC Education, is critical to this,” Ms Wyse told EducationDaily.
“Ensuring these resources reach the places where young people live and learn, like the classroom and home, is also key.”
With both What’s the Point? and Explainer Hacks providing opportunities for adults and young people to learn together, Ms Wyse says both programs are rich resources to explore key topics and themes.
“The programs are designed as conversation-starters and share practical strategies and activities that can be activated at home or in the classroom – like using arts and craft to better understand emotions or working together as a family to implement a daily movement routine. “
Explainer Hacks and What’s the Point launched on ABC Education on Monday 12 February and will be available on ABC TV and ABC iView from Friday 16 February.
