supporting youth workers to promote mental health em

Supporting Youth Workersto Promote Mental Health

03.05.2023 mielenterveysseura.fi1

Elina MarjamäkiProject Planner

Mental Health Promotion of Children and Young People

The starting point

Youth work

Mental Health

Promotion

Longdistance

In the beginning

even the word Mental Health was too much for youth workers


Something needed to be done


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


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 arenasand 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.


Creating together

1. Mental Health Training for Youth Workers


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

2. Mental Health Material for Youth Workers (some examples)



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


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


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

What youth workers say now?


”The idea of mental health as a skill opened up new doors for my work as well as for my own life.”

Where are we now?

Youth Work&

Mental Health Promotion


Let’s promote mental health together

Elina Marjamäki

Project PlannerMental Health Promotion of Children and Young [email protected]

www.famh.fi