During the second meeting of the ERASMUS+ program “Let’s talk” that took place in Athens, Greece, we discussed the development of the Policy Analysis document and the gender-sensitive mental health training program for young people.
Specifically, partners discussed the content of the Policy Analysis document, which aims to inform the key persons and youth experts on the importance of a gender-sensitive approach to youth mental health, explaining the difference we see in young women and men facing mental health issues. The document will serve as a tool for implementing tailor-made and efficient policies and strategies that address youth’s needs.
Partners also had the opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss the components of the gender-sensitive mental health program and toolkit resources for youth workers and young people. The program will consist of: (a) a Training curriculum with a description of the program, a list of learning outcomes, a list of references, duration, and type of the certificate; (b) a Handbook for youth workers and (c) a Workbook for young people consisting of different self-reflective, informative and interactive handouts for young people.
Regarding the training of the groups, after brainstorming on the matters affecting young people’s mental health and how youth workers can attend them, we concluded on the curriculum topics. All partners agreed that the common issues that young people faced in all partner countries were the lack of support system from adults and family, the continuing gender stereotypes, the lack of knowledge on mental health issues of youth, and many other common risks that were stated during the field research of all partner countries.
Drawing from these observations and many others that were brought upon us, we decided that the topics of the curriculum will revolve around addressing mental health issues with gender and a holistic sensitive approach, socialization, and identity (how do young people understand the world they are living), building resilience in youngsters, gender equality, stigma and youth voice, as well as means of non-formal education (different activities, themes, and tools about how to implement the above). The curriculum will be adapted to the groups’ needs, one for young people and one for youth workers.
Find out more about Let’s Talk HERE.
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