We care - Mental Health in European Youth Work

<< Background >>We applied for this project to address the urgent and growing need to integrate mental health into youth work. Recent crises, including the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, have severely impacted young people, increasing anxiety, isolation, and emotional distress. At the same time, youth workers lacked adequate training to identify and respond to these challenges, while the topic of mental health remained stigmatised and underprioritised. Through We Care, we aimed to strengthen our organisations’ capacity to create inclusive, supportive environments where mental wellbeing is understood, valued, and proactively addressed. We wanted to better equip both paid staff and volunteers to recognise early signs of mental health issues and respond with care and appropriate tools. By collaborating at the European level, we were able to share experiences, collect good practices, and develop practical resources, such as the checklist and the manual, that can benefit youth workers across Europe. Ultimately, this project helps ensure that mental health becomes a core element of quality youth work.<< Objectives >>With this project, we aimed to:Strengthen the capacity of partner organisations to design inclusive and innovative youth activities that integrate mental health as a core component.Raise awareness among youth workers about early signs of mental health challenges and equip them with practical coping tools, while helping to reduce stigma.Build a sustainable network for sharing good practices in youth mental health.Develop a manual and a checklist tool to support the implementation of high-quality, mental health-conscious youth work at the local level.Disseminate and scale the project’s outcomes at national and European levels to support wider impact in youth work across Europe.<< Implementation >>We began the project with a research phase that included a transnational questionnaire and local focus groups with young people and youth workers. These helped us identify specific mental health needs, existing coping methods, and the current state of support structures. Based on this, we organised international training courses bringing together youth workers and young people to exchange experiences and gather concrete examples of good practices and inclusive activities that promote mental wellbeing. These practices were documented and analysed, forming the basis for a practical manual to support mental health-sensitive youth work. At the same time, we developed a checklist designed to help youth organisations ensure a safe and supportive environment during their activities. This checklist and manual are intended as long-term tools that youth workers across Europe can use to recognise mental health challenges early, reduce stigma, and create inclusive spaces for all young people. << Results >>We developed a set of practical tools for youth workers, including a checklist to help create safe and supportive environments during youth activities, and a manual with practical exercises for recognising mental health challenges, addressing them with empathy, and ensuring inclusion (https://www.ejbm.de/de/angebote/fuer-fachkraefte/wecare-psychische-gesundheit-in-der-europaeischen-jugendarbeit & https://www.ejbm.de/de/angebote/fuer-fachkraefte/wecare-psychische-gesundheit-in-der-europaeischen-jugendarbeit). Based on the research phase, we produced an analysis of the mental health situation in our communities, highlighting common challenges and offering tailored recommendations. The research was organised into 2 documents, addressed to young people and youth professionals. Through international trainings and local focus groups, we collected and documented inclusive activity formats that can be adapted by other youth organisations. As a broader result, the project contributed to raising awareness and reducing stigma around mental health, both among professionals and young people, while building the capacity of our organisations to address these issues proactively in their daily work.- Tutorials (https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHt