Supporting youth workers to promote mental health

1. Supporting Youth Workers
to Promote Mental Health
12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi1

2. Elina Marjamäki
Project Planner
Mental Health Promotion of Children and Young People

3. The starting point
Youth
work
Mental
Health
Promotion
Long
distance

4. In the beginning
even the word Mental Health was
too much for youth workers
12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi4

5. Something needed to be done

6. Because…
• Mental Health is a life skill that can be learned,
taught, supported and strengthened
• Everyone has mental health even if she or he has
mental health problems, difficult life situations or
crisis
• Everyone needs mental health even if she or he
doesn’t have mental health issues or problems
• Mental Health is the foundation for well-being
12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi6

7. 12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi7
Best promoters are parents and
professionals working with
young people such as Youth
workers, Early educators,
Primary school teachers, Lower
and upper secondary school
teachers, VET teachers,
Coaches
Best arenas
and best
promoters
Best arenas to promote
mental health are the places
and environments where
children and young people
spend time such as kinder-
gartens, schools, many
arenas of youth work.

8. Creating together
12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi8

9. 1. Mental Health Training for
Youth Workers
12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi9

10. Mental health in
everyday life:
Daily routines
Safety net:
support and help
from home,
school, working
life, web and
society
Coping skills:
seeking help and
recognising coping
skills, meaningful life
Self-knowledge:
values, strengths,
appreciation
Sexual health.
enjoying my
sexuality,
accepting myself
and feeling
loved.
Interaction skills:
friendship, partnership
at work
Emotional skills:
Recognition,
expressing, accepting
emotions, empathy
and assertiveness
Stress
management
and recovery
Participation:
Able to
influence own
and
community’s
affairs.
Finnish Association for Mental Health
Youth Workers can
Strenghten all of these
Mental Health Skills

11. 2. Mental Health Material for
Youth Workers (some examples)
12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi11

12. Every participant gets a Handbook of
Mental Health
• 240 pages:
• Theory
• Practical applications and
ideas and tools
• Is also being used as a study
material in educating youth
workers
• Available in Finnish and
Swedish
12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi12

13. 12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi13

14. 12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi14

15. 12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi15

16. 12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi16

17. Impacting on 3 different levels
1. Professional growth
2. Mental health as a resource has opened new horizons for
youth work: “has revolutionized the youth work”
3. Cooperation with vocational schools and university level
education of youth workers
Curriculum
Teachers’ training
Web-based training
12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi17

18. Cooperation with the Ministry of
Education and Culture
• Financing the process has made this possible from 2011
• Cooperation with The Finnish Association for Mental
Health continues
• Understanding the importance of mental health
promotion
• We offer 2-day training and material for youth workers
free of charge
12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi18

19. What youth workers say now?
12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi19
”The idea of mental health as a
skill opened up new doors for my
work as well as for my own life.”

20. Where are we now?
Youth Work
&
Mental Health
Promotion

21. Let’s promote mental health together
Elina Marjamäki
Project Planner
Mental Health Promotion of Children
and Young People
elina.marjamaki@mielenterveysseura.fi
www.famh.fi
12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi21

22. 12.5.2016 mielenterveysseura.fi22