Sharing the reality of healthcare workers fighting COVID-19, through the lens of filmmakers in isolation because of it
What made, and who we collaborated with.
Video and Media and Teaching and Learning Innovation collaborated with partners from the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Black Dog Institute, and the Australian Government to make eight short films.
🏆 RMHive won the 2021 Melbourne Award for Knowledge and Innovation.
The challenge: Breaking through the stigma
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a stigma around discussing mental wellbeing in frontline healthcare work, and a lack of time and space for these professionals to share stories with each other.
Born from a collaboration between a healthcare worker and Teaching and Learning Innovation at the University of Melbourne, RMHive is an app that was designed to support those on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic. The team includes partners from the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Black Dog Institute, and the Australian Government.
From the RMHive partnerships, the idea of RESPOND was conceived – a series of eight short films that would offer valuable insights into the experiences of frontline healthcare workers that could be shared on the app.
They approached Video and Media to help them develop the short film series.
The process: Listening to stories; visualising experiences
Listening was our top priority when developing RESPOND. Not only were the everyday experiences of healthcare workers outside of our knowledge as filmmakers, we were also seeking to honour the stories of these essential workers during a once-in-a-generation pandemic.
We partnered with a research team from the University who recorded interviews using photo elicitation. This style of interview cut through the stigma surrounding mental health, by asking interviewees to reflect upon their own experiences using a variety of visual stimulus. These recordings allowed us to understand both their unique stories, and the common threads that tied them together.
The eight recorded interviews were then anonymously dispersed amongst eight storytellers selected from Australia’s diverse film-making community. These creatives each made a short film, capturing the high levels of anxiety, creeping depression and isolation experienced by healthcare workers as well as their resilience, coping mechanisms and moments of respite. Each film resulting from this process is very different, but equally affecting – covering drama, documentary, animation, and comedy.
Impact: Connecting with others in isolation
These films were shared with the community through the RMHive app. The project was also featured on ‘The Project’ and was launched at a screening at 2021 Melbourne Knowledge Week, which attracted significant media attention and was attended by over 200 people.
RESPOND saw RMHive take out the 2021 Melbourne Award for Knowledge and Innovation.
Creating and sharing these films helped to support the mental wellbeing of healthcare workers, grow community understanding and combat feelings of isolation during difficult times.
This project is both a valuable community-building resource for the present, and a unique time capsule for the future.
Testimonials
"To think that someone could take my thoughts and make it into a film that other people could connect with makes it more of a communal experience, rather than just my own."
- Anonymous healthcare worker
"Very powerful, especially with the public misconception of what’s going on for us, this is a really necessary perspective to the struggles that are occurring. It makes me think, gosh, we’ve – I’ve – come so far. We’ve been through so much."
- Abbey Fistrovich, healthcare worker
This project was produced by Video and Media. Supporting excellence in teaching and research at the University of Melbourne.
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