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Description
We will use the grant to fund capacity-building activities for our organisation. These will include team training: workshops and courses. Additionally, we will implement a nationwide online campaign and hold workshops for adoptive parents. The aim of the workshops is to support and strengthen parents so that they can better cope with the daily challenges caused by ''adoption chaos''. The workshops will be held by a married couple of trainers who are raising an adopted child.
Summary of project results
In Poland, there is an increasing percentage of mental problems and disorders, and at the same time a significant shortage of mental health specialists (especially when it comes to children and adolescents). Research from 2020 conducted by the Central Statistical Office indicates that over 23% of Poles have mental health problems, and about 17% have been diagnosed with mental disorders. The results of the "Young Heads" report indicate that 70% of respondents aged 12-24 had symptoms of mental disorders. Additionally, studies have shown that 40% of young people experienced high levels of stress. The conclusion of the report is the need to increase access to psychological and psychiatric help for children and adolescents and to increase public awareness of mental health. The project helped popularize knowledge about health, self-regulation tools and available forms of help, and trained 8 new specialists in mindfulness and stress management techniques for children and adolescents.
One of the social groups we wanted to pay special attention to are adoptive parents. This is a group of exclusion due to: low social understanding, lack of common access to knowledge about the differences between biological and adoptive parenthood, stigmatization, and assessments based on stereotypes. Mandatory pre-adoption courses do not provide sufficient knowledge and do not build an internal support system for future parents. After adoption
it may turn out that quickly depleting resources lead to family crises and a sense of burnout. The project aimed to counteract the feeling of loneliness and popularize reliable knowledge about bonding and adoption through workshops for adoptive parents and their networking.
Moreover, in the area of strategic strengthening of the organization, we have diagnosed the area of efficient communication as this
causing the greatest difficulties in the efficient functioning of the organization''s processes and activities.
The association strengthened its internal potential through 2 team trainings on communication (non-violent communication, Insights training), participation in an instructor course for the program for children and youth "Mindfulness in education. Kosmos i Kajo” for 8 team members and volunteers and preparation of internal documents to improve the organization (management regulations, project life cycle and good communication practices).
Additionally, the Association has launched a nationwide campaign #Caring for Yourself is SZTOS, which promotes health. The campaign consisted of weekly publications about a healthy lifestyle and ways of taking care of yourself (topics covered include:
psychotherapy, depression, endometriosis, preventive examinations, setting boundaries, building relationships, acceptance, letting go, mindfulness, happiness, breaking stereotypes, overstimulation, physical activity, social inequalities, yoga, healthy eating, education, etc.) and a series of webinars with experts: Katarzyna de Lazari Radek (ethicist, philosopher), Joanna Gawrońska (psychologist, psychotherapist), Maciej Borucz (therapist movement), Izabella Nowaczyk (mediator, therapist) and with 2 experts in the organization (psychologist/mindfulness teacher and physiotherapist).
During the project, we organized three editions of "Self-Care Day", i.e. one-day psychoeducational and development workshops. The aim was to increase public awareness of health, and the program included mindfulness practices, breathing exercises, ways to regulate emotions, and art therapy. One of the meetings took place outdoors, in the Botanical Garden, promoting contact with nature. The next meeting took place at Medioteka Memo, and the next one at the Local Activity Place, promoting interesting places in Łódź.
"Support an adopted child and don''t let yourself go crazy, or how to survive in adoption" is a workshop for 12 adoptive parents. The meetings were networking, supporting, strengthening and very practical.
As part of the grant, we improved the organization in the area of management, information flow and the way of dividing opinions by creating and publishing 3 documents: "Work Regulations of the Management Board", "Project life cycle" where we define the conditions of cooperation with our organization and "Good communication practices" used by The Association''s board and volunteers. The team significantly developed its competences and communication through training (over 50 hours): 8 people participated in 2 dedicated group training courses on communication - one 9-hour workshop based on the assumptions of "Nonviolent Communication" (NVC) and dialogue systems in the organization, and the second 8-hour training using the "Insights Discovery" method. 8 SZTOS volunteers became instructors of the mindfulness program for children "Mindfulness in education. Cosmos and Kajo.
As part of the "Care for yourself is SZTOS!" campaign, we published a total of 35 educational posts about self-care and health, as well as other materials, e.g. reports, videos marked with the hashtag #troskaosiebiejestsztos, of which there were a total of 135. Visits on Facebook during the project 12 771; new followers: 267. We also published 2 videos promoting the project and our events. We also organized 5 webinars with health specialists on body and spirit care, attended by 70 people. In the project, we organized a total of 15 workshops for our recipients - 13 educational sessions and workshops were organized as part of the "Self-Care Days", a total of 55 participants participated in them and 1 psychoeducational material was created.
People observing and participating shared positive feedback that they had expanded their knowledge of health and useful tools supporting well-being.
We organized two 9-hour workshops for 13 adoptive parents, who felt better understood and empowered thanks to them, and we published an article containing the reflections of the leader and some of the participants.