Project Funding: “Take Care Take Action. Participation, Self-Efficacy, Resilience for Young People.”
The participatory school project “Take Care Take Action” for young people aims to take care of oneself and others – “Take Care,” as well as to engage in self-effective action together – “Take Action.”
At two pilot schools, each with two classes in the Innsbruck-Land area in Tyrol, students are supported in their biopsychosocial competence and self-efficacy through a variety of workshop formats. Based on intensive educational units on mental health, concrete project ideas related to mental health are developed and implemented with the young people through participatory processes. In collaboration with teaching and school staff, multipliers, and community employees, the first steps toward the structural implementation of selected ideas in the social space are jointly carried out.
Duration: 15 months, Project duration: 01.08.2024 – 31.10.2025
Keywords:
biopsychosocial competence, participation, self-efficacy, resilience, social space
Initial Situation
Numerous studies and investigations show that mental health problems and disorders among young people have been steadily increasing for years. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated this issue. Older students are more affected than younger ones. The results also indicate that children and young people feel that their concerns and issues are not taken seriously by politics and society. Cf. bibliography [1]
In addition to the general challenges of adolescence, with all the physical and psychological developments to be managed, today’s youth live in particularly challenging times. Issues such as the increasingly uncertain global situation, tense social and economic conditions, family and school stress, and the effects of media developments demand a lot from their mental development.
Manifest mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety and eating disorders, as well as suicidal thoughts and attempts, seem to be occurring more frequently according to data from child and adolescent psychiatry. Phenomena such as concerns about the future, feelings of anxiety, sadness, nervousness, irritability, and difficulty falling asleep are steadily increasing, while life satisfaction decreases with age. Cf. bibliography [1]
Solution Approach
This is where our project comes in: it is understood as a prevention and intervention measure to support and promote the mental health of young people. By giving them a voice and the opportunity to participate, their self-efficacy is promoted. Together, we discover and develop personal and collective resources and promote personal and social protective factors. In this way, the resilience of individuals and the social space can be strengthened.
The Project
In two educational workshops per class, the focus is on raising awareness and building consciousness about mental health and strengthening individual and collective biopsychosocial health and resilience.
The educational work also includes two cross-school teacher training sessions on the topic “Strengthening the Mental Health of Young People.”
Building on the educational workshops, three subsequent workshops are held with the classes. Together, the students collect ideas on how to strengthen personal and collective well-being in the school. The group works on what the individuals and the community can contribute to strengthening the social space. Afterward, the students are allowed to implement their own project per class. The specific issues to be worked on and co-designed will be determined through open-ended, participatory, and interactive methods. Selected ideas will be reflected upon and jointly implemented or integrated into the social space.
The project will be continuously supported by an advisory board, consisting of representatives from all groups involved in the project.
The Effects
Direct Results (Output):
- Students: Knowledge increase in mental health, activation of personal and collective protective factors, promotion of self-efficacy, one implemented project per class.
- Teachers: Knowledge increase in mental health, learning and testing practical methods to promote the classroom climate and the mental health of young people in teaching.
- Networking and exchange between students, school staff, and multipliers.
Medium-term Effects (Outcome):
- Students: Increased awareness of their own mental state and that of others, improved classroom climate through cooperation, strengthened self-efficacy through self-directed work on a project.
- Teachers: Awareness of their own mental state and that of their students, implementation of health-promoting measures in teaching, improved communication among different stakeholders.
- Reflection on structural conditions that may hinder or promote mental health in schools.
Long-term Effects (Impact):
- Structural changes in schools and/or the social space that can sustainably improve the situation of young people will be initiated.
- Family and community structures will be reached.
- Improved collaboration between internal and external relevant institutions.
- Contribution to the destigmatization and demystification of mental illnesses.
Bibliography
[1] Felder-Puig, Rosemarie; Teutsch, Friedrich; Winkler, Roman: Psychische Gesundheit von österreichischen Jugendlichen. HBSC-Factsheet 01 aus Erhebung 2021/22. Wien: BMSGPK, 2023.
