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Description
A need to establish a non-institutional counseling center for youth mental health has been identified in the local youth Program of the city of Karlovac 2020-2023. A counseling center has not yet been established, existing services are indequate, mental health of youth is in risk (based on local and national research). Services for the mental health of youth has to be improved and adapted to the real needs. We will conduct research on the mental health of youth and their needs. Working group (all partners) which promotes and advocates youth mental health will empower the NGOs in the field of mental health and advocacy. We intend to address these limitations through:
1: Strengthen and improve the capacities of the civil society in Karlovac (advocacy and mental health through education).
2: Research the needs of youth in the field of mental health (advocate and create appropriate, and accessible services).
3: Raising community awareness on youth mental health.
The changes in relation to the partner organizations are: networking strengthened through a working group for promotion and adcocacy; to work together in the future on youth mental health and be able to create projects based on real needs of youth.
The decision-makers will be approached with advocacy document with insight into the needs of youth and will be invited to participate in the working group which promotes youth mental health.
Youth in Karlovac will be informed, their awareness of mental health and destigmatization of mental health will be increased and their mental health needs will be mapped so that in the future the local community can develop services in accordance with the needs of young people.
The added value of the project is better advocacy capacities of NGO’s the work of the working group for the promotion of mental health after the end of the project, and the possibility of creating services in the field of youth mental health based on the needs identified by the research.
Summary of project results
Based on the research on the needs of young people that was conducted in 2019., the City program for the Youth of the City of Karlovac (2020-2023), recognized the need to establish a non-institutional Youth Mental Health Counseling Center. Despite the recognized need the center has not yet been established.
As part of the same research carried out in 2019, young people confirmed the existence of services in Karlovac in the field of mental health within institutions, but emphasized the greater need for non-institutional counseling services. Although the services are available, young people often don''t feel comfortable using them and do not feel connected to the institutions. Also the number of professionals working in them is insufficient.
The mental health of young people is at risk in the midst of social changes caused by the global pandemic and the strong earthquakes that also affected the city of Karlovac. The aforementioned risk is confirmed by research into earlier health crises and natural disasters (Buljan Flander 2021). An additional risk is confirmed by research that finds that younger people have a harder time coping with the consequences of the pandemic (D. Ajduković 2021. Bakić 2021). So far, no research has been conducted in the area of the City of Karlovac that would deal specifically with the area of mental health of young people. Through research, they would gain insight into the concrete and specific needs of young people, and through campaigning and advocacy, they would contribute to the creation of conditions for improving the mental health of young people in the area of the City of Karlovac.
So, in addition to the fundamental problem of the lack of advocacy capacities of CSOs, the project strongly points out the problem of mental health of young people that is at risk, the existing services that are inadequate, the number of child and youth workers and experts is insufficient all supported by the lack of space dedicated to improve mental health of young people (There are 139 organizations operating in the area of the city of Karlovac, there is no space in which it would be possible to provide services to improve the mental health of young people).
It is for this reason that DrONe - The Association for Social Development and Non-formal Education, in cooperation with five partners, designed a project that will contribute to the local community in the context of better access to information, increasing awareness about the challenges of mental health of young people, networking, cooperation and education in the field of advocacy. Decision makers will have a better insight into the needs of young people with concrete recommendations in the field of mental health. Young people will have better services based on their needs.
In order to strengthen, network and improve the capacities of CSOs in the field of advocacy and mental health, the Working Group for the Promotion of Mental Health was established, whose main role was to monitor the implementation of public policies (implementation of the City Program for Youth) and the promotion of mental health of youth. A set of educational workshops was also held for representatives of both CSOs and youth in the field of Mental Health of Youth, Online Promotion, Video Content Creation and Advocacy.
Through the project, a research of the needs of youth in the field of mental health was carried out with the aim of advocating and creating participatory, appropriate and accessible services in the city of Karlovac. The quantitative findings of this research indicate a relatively poor level of mental health among young people from Karlovac. In combination with other findings, in particular the stigma related to seeking help, the lack of information about forms of support and the part of young people who are not ready to seek help and who would not feel comfortable in that situation, as well as the part of young people who engage in risky behaviors, additionally emphasizes the need for comprehensive strengthening of this area of youth health.
The qualitative part of the research was conducted through interviews with experts working in the field of mental health and a focus group with young people. Experts highlighted the lack of awareness and education about the mental health of young people not only in Karlovac but throughout Croatia. Many expressed concern about the limited resources and support available to young people. It is evident from their comments that there is an urgent need for specialized experts and facilities dedicated to meeting the mental health needs of young people. The participants in the focus groups referred to the stigmatization of mental health problems, stating that it is ubiquitous, and is reflected in the refusal or postponement of young people seeking psychological help. The participants further commented that they see parents as key in the stigmatization of mental health problems and believe that through education young people and parents can become aware and thus reduce stigmatization.
During the project, a number of promotional activities were continuously carried out with the aim of better informing the community about the mental health of young people and advocating the implementation and change of public policies. In addition to regular online promotion, promo-educational video material was also created. For the purpose of off-line promotion, a leaflet on research results and mental health in general was created and distributed. Regular meetings of the working group for the promotion of mental health were held, as well as a meeting of all project partners with the decision maker, the city of Karlovac. A public presentation of the research results was also held for the interested general public.
Project GPS 1.1. was designed with three main goals: (I) strengthening and improving the capacity of local civil society in the area of advocacy and mental health of young people; (II) researching the needs of young people in the field of mental health with the aim of advocating and creating participatory, appropriate and accessible services in the area of the city of Karlovac, and (III) increasing the community''s awareness of the mental health of young people and advocating the implementation and change of public policies in that area.
The results of this project go beyond the fulfillment of the set goals. Local civil society organizations are not only empowered through education, but are primarily connected to the working group for the promotion of mental health of young people. The last meeting of the working group resulted with the conclusion that the working group should be expanded because its activities managed to include and interest a much wider circle of actors than the originally gathered CSOs. There are primarily other CSOs, but also professional organizations and even health institutions. This Working Group will not only continue its work regardless of the completion of this project, but will also intensify it by adding new members and entering into an increasingly complex process of advocacy or dialogue with the City and other decision makers regarding the fulfillment of given recommendations. What also adds to this strong impression of the continuation of the Working Group''s activities is the outcome of the meeting with the representatives of the City of Karlovac, which was attended by the Mayor, the Head of the Department for Social Activities, the Head of the Department for Culture, Sports, Youth and Technical Culture, and the expert representative for work with youth at which they accepted the partnership and the invitation to cooperate in achieving the final goal - the establishment of a free non-institutional counseling center tailored for the youth.
Furthermore, the results of the analysis of the conducted research, the only one conducted in the County/City, are the last link in the chain of proving the need of young people for better public health policies and those aimed at solving mental health challenges. The results turned out to be even worse than those predicted by the more experienced members of the Working Group, which gave us, as a newly created consortium for the establishment of better opportunities for young people in the field of mental health, even more additional motivation for further action, work and advocacy. The number of young people who became active as a result of participating in one of the project activities is the most encouraging of all. It is about people between the ages of 16 and 20 who suddenly became involved in volunteering and showed significant interest in actively participating in this advocacy process, realizing that they are an indispensable factor, even a prerequisite, for the goal of opening a counseling center for youth.
To summarize, the greatest achievements of this project are (I) the newly formed coalition of CSOs, experts, and institutions; (II) a solid advocacy foundation - analysis of the conducted research - on which the coalition will continue its advocacy activities; (III) the process will take place in dialogue and cooperation with local decision-makers and (IV) a greater number of young people who support the entire process.