Survey designed to assess effectiveness of Apollo House's programs

The Growth and Empowerment Measure (GEM) survey designed for adults has been adapted to assess the wellbeing of children and adolescents in the Apollo Estate area. 

Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal staff at Apollo House played a pivotal role in ensuring the tool – unique to the centre and a first for the School of Rural Health – was culturally appropriate for its younger audience.

GEM covers areas such as community belonging; confidence in learning, speaking out and being heard; confidence in relationships and role models; connection to culture; and dealing with hard feelings.

Apollo House coordinator, Mel Singh, was thrilled to see the survey trialled this week during the centre’s school holiday program after months in the pipeline. 

“We knew a pen and paper survey wouldn’t cut it so the kids use magnets on artworks designed as part of the project,” Ms Singh said.

“We’re trying to capture those statistics now as children so Apollo House can increase their wellbeing through our programs from the start to the end.”

The results will allow social workers such as Ms Singh to monitor the effectiveness of Apollo House’s programs. Up until now staff didn't have a tool to assess changes resulting from their programs.

After months planning and designing the survey, and final pilot testing on Monday, University of Sydney Masters of Social Work student Kim Miller and School of Rural Health research manager Karen Paxton said there’s already plans for the survey to be used on both a national and international scale. 

“At the moment a pilot test is being run over the school holiday period and once the team are happy with the result it will be used elsewhere,” Ms Miller said. 

She said the key is before and after testing so Apollo House can measure and evaluate the results and ultimately increase children's wellbeing.