Blog
Read the latest news about us and the Ake app here.
Unlocking motivation with Discussions
Staying motivated on any journey, especially in personal growth and change, can be difficult. To address this, we have included a feature in Ake called Discussions. This feature allows direct communication between the Men’s Behaviour Change Programme clinician and service users, helping participants stay connected and engaged with the intervention.
Discussions are akin to having a message board dedicated to the intervention right in your pocket. They enable clinicians to send messages directly to service users individually or as part of a group. This opens up various options for facilitators to maintain engagement outside programme sessions, such as sending timely reminders, providing helpful resources, offering personalised encouragement, and promoting help-seeking behaviours. You can invite users to explore specific content within the app, share their thoughts on something discussed in the previous session, or suggest something to consider before the next session, which you can follow up on in person. With more time in the programme, service users may feel more comfortable working together and use the space provided by Ake to talk about their experiences and share resources.
If you notice that engagement with the discussions you’ve posted, or the app in general, is low among some users, this presents an opportunity for conversation with those participants. You can express curiosity about their experiences and address any issues accordingly. You can also check out our engagement guide at our Ake support website for more tips.
By fostering the habit of checking in with the app and engaging in discussions, participants develop a stronger connection with the programme, the material, and, ultimately, the efforts towards family well-being and safety.
Are you curious about how Ake can enhance your behaviour change programme? Get in touch for a demonstration.
Introducing Ake – The friend in your pocket for change
Built from 40+ years of experience in the domestic, family and sexualised violence intervention field, Ake has been designed as a toolkit for helping men’s behaviour change programme staff engage with participants and keep the pressure on behaviour change and family well-being outside of sessions.
The app benefits both participants of behaviour change programmes and the staff. Participants have access to a vast library of video, audio, and written content that is bite-sized and covers various intervention topics, all focused on emotional regulation, accountability, and family well-being. The idea is to bolster enrichment from the programme by providing further exposure to key intervention themes, accessible 24/7. Programme staff can utilise features that enable them to create and facilitate in-app group discussions, prepare participants for sessions by sending them content, and gain insights into content engagement by their participants using the app.
The 2025 Pilot
Starting in February, we will begin our pilot with several agencies in New Zealand, who have graciously agreed to support our evaluation of Ake by incorporating the app into their services. This pilot is intended to run for approximately 21 weeks, with access to the app also available for participants who complete the programme beyond that timeframe. The evaluation aims to identify Ake’s strengths and weaknesses and assess how useful both staff and programme participants found the app during the pilot.
We are looking forward to sharing updates and learnings on this blog. Stay tuned!
Are you curious how Ake can enhance your men’s behaviour change programme? Request a demonstration.
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