ARCVic Newsletter

ARCVic's Newsletter is a quarterly publication produced for our members and supporters. The purpose of the Newsletter is to enable a sharing of information between people with anxiety disorders, carers, clinicians and researchers, and to provide a source of hope, encouragement and support to members. The Newsletter includes articles from leading Australian and International researchers and clinicians who specialise in anxiety disorders, current research projects and updates on international research, lists of new books and book reviews, sections on recovery skills and the therapist's notebook, the latest information about ARCVic's programs and events, and relevant educational activities run by other organisations, mental health news, stories and poems by people with anxiety disorders and carers, and much more.

Contents of recent ARCVic Newsletters

Contributions

Contributions to the ARCVic Newsletter are welcome. All contributions are subject to approval, and must be consistent with the principles and purposes of ARCVic. The Editor reserves the right to edit contributions or request editing by the contributor.

Please direct all submissions or enquiries to the Editor or Assistant Editor.

EDITOR: Kathryn I'Anson (ARCVic Director)
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Prue Lewis
PO Box 358, Mount Waverley, Vic 3149
Phone 03 9886 9377 or 03 9886 9233. Fax 03 9886 9411.

ARCVic Newsletter Survey 2004 - Summary of findings

Thank you to all of our members who responded to our Newsletter survey included in the previous newsletter. A total of 54 people completed and returned the survey. Of these, 59% identified themselves as a person with an anxiety disorder, 17% were carers, family members or friends, and 24% were professionals or from organisations. Most people were located in the Melbourne metropolitan area, with a small number located in rural or regional Victoria, interstate and even overseas. Nearly all the topics included in the newsletter were of interest to the majority of readers, particularly information about disorders, new published research and recovery skills. The disorders of most interest were depression, OCD, social anxiety, GAD, and panic disorder. Other topics of high interest were anxiety in general and stress. People with anxiety disorders rated all the sections of the newsletter as "very helpful", while carers, family members, friends, professionals and people from organisations rated most sections as "helpful". In terms of how easy the information was to understand, most people responded "just right". Similarly, most people indicated they thought the length of the newsletter was "just right". We received many great suggestions for a new name for the newsletter. The ARCVic Committee of Management will consider these names at a forthcoming meeting. There were also many helpful suggestions about the Newsletter which we anticipate incorporating in future issues. Some of the suggestions and comments about the newsletter were:

"I think the newsletter is a wonderful resource that is exceptionally well written and presented. Please keep up the good work."
"I find the ARCVic Newsletter very informative and professional"
"More clever sayings and jokes"
"Congratulations on how good the newsletter is already. I suggest a short section giving information to 'frequently asked questions' or similar."
"I believe the current format is very useful, informative and interesting. Any change which can enhance upon the current format, although difficult to imagine, is worthy of implementation. Whatever you do please continue the good work that you do!"
"We could have either a monthly or quarterly write up (report ) from the coordinators or facilitators of each of the existing support groups in Victoria."
"As a member/carer I find the newsletter a great help and gives me a greater understanding of the problem of OCD and hoarding."
"Thank you for your fantastic newsletter. I look forward to it and stop all other activities until I have read it through. It is warm, professional and educative. Well done."
"I enjoy reading it and put it out into my waiting room for clients to read - it is well recycled."
"As a psychologist I often refer clients to the newsletter, I think that it is user friendly and very readable for my clients."

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