Child and Family eHub

The Child and Family eHub was a co-designed digital health service intervention aimed at improving how children and families access existing community, social and mental health services. Designed as a virtual front door to local support systems, particularly for families experiencing vulnerability and mental health risk.

The challenge

Even before COVID-19, many children experiencing mental health difficulties were not accessing the services they needed, with the lowest access rates among the most vulnerable families. The pandemic further increased mental health pressures, while existing systems remained fragmented and difficult to navigate.

Our approach

Combined self-navigation, tailored service information, guided digital navigation and personal human support. Co-designed with families with lived experience, local service providers and community stakeholders in three Australian communities experiencing significant vulnerability: Wyndham (Victoria), Fairfield (NSW) and Marrickville (NSW). User-centred design methods were used to iteratively refine the prototype.

Key goals

• Improve access to existing health, mental health and social care services for children and families.

• Increase engagement and use of local services, especially for vulnerable families.

• Support prevention and early intervention for child and family mental health needs.

• Reduce fragmentation in service systems by creating clearer pathways to care.

• Identify barriers and enablers to wider scale-up across other communities.

Evaluation & impact

A cohort of 450 families across the three sites was followed over time to examine whether exposure to the eHub improved service engagement, accessibility, parenting outcomes and child mental health indicators. The evaluation also examined acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, fidelity, coverage, cost and sustainability.