Towards Improving Youth Mental Health - Annual Report 2018

More documents

Recommendations

Info

TOWARDS IMPROVING YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH ANNUAL REPORT 2018 1.4 Why awareness and vigilance are so important Young males in Ireland between ages 10-24 are more likely to die by suicide than by any other cause based on CSO Statistical Data from 2014. According to research by UNICEF published in 2017 Ireland has the fourth highest teen suicide rate in the EU/OECD region. We know we can bring those rates of youth suicide down if we reach young people at their most vulnerable ages, if we can spot the early signs of distress and do our best to reduce those stressors as much as possible. As parents we can greatly assist in that process by being aware, knowing what to look for and encouraging our teens to do the same. 1.5 Fighting stigma One of the most positive influences we can have is by fighting stigma. There is still a huge amount of stigma attached to suicide, and this can be further instilled by religious or moral teachings, Some teens have given us feedback that when they wanted to visit a friend who had attempted suicide they were actively discouraged by some parents from doing so; although the same parents had been encouraging their teens to visit a young teen from their school who had been diagnosed with leukaemia. The teens couldn’t see how the situations differed but they were being given different advice. None of us are perfect, and we all have prejudices, but it is so important that we allow our teens to develop their own attitudes to issues which challenge them, their friends and peers. This is particularly the case with suicide, where we often still see the young person who has lost their way and tried to end their suffering treated as a perpetrator rather than a victim. 1.6 Mission Statement "saving lives through education" Our mission is focused on providing mental health awareness and suicide prevention programmes to schools and colleges where our facilitators work directly with students to promote awareness, provide skills and advice, and support teachers and staff as needed. We provide a wide range of online resources including online training and youth self-harm and suicide publications; we operate a FreeText service where people in need of crisis information can text our information service free of charge. Our Facilitators and volunteers also arrange and provide outreach events and awareness campaigns around the country for parents, community organisations and voluntary groups. We also provide services to youth organisations, youth diversion projects, clubs and sports organisations upon request. YOUTH SUICIDE PREVENTION IRELAND PAGE 10
TOWARDS IMPROVING YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH ANNUAL REPORT 2018 2 Charitable Programmes and Activities The charity has been focussing on three main areas of charitable activity: Schools Programme, Outreach Services and Awareness Events. 2.1 Schools Programme YSPI developed the Four Steps to Help Programme for Schools with the assistance of Dr Keith Holmes, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, and Medical Director of St John of God’s Youth Mental Health Services. We have spent the last two years consolidating the programme, which is now a comprehensive mental health awareness and suicide prevention programme. The programme includes: • A 24 page Student Booklet for each student attending a workshop • A Teachers’ Handbook which provides in depth information and risk assessments for teachers and youth workers. • A set of 7 lesson plans which the schools can use to build on the programme workshops. • A Press and Media Pack which covers responsible reporting of suicide particularly youth suicide which carries a higher risk of copycat suicides amongst peers. • A full script of the facilitators' prepared presentation with slides as reference • Access to Free2Text Crisis Information Service From August 2019 the Schools Programme should also include: • A video presentation of the class talk that can be played to classes or used as a teacher training resources • Priority access for schools to local counselling resources • Access to educational assessments and psychometric evaluations 2.1.1 School Visits The main focus of our programme remains the School Visits that our facilitators undertake on behalf of the charity. In 2018 our facilitators visited 53 schools around the country with 42% being in Munster. This is a 22% reduction on schools visited in 2017 due in part to both our facilitators being on sick leave during the school year. COUNTY SCHOOLS COUNTY SCHOOLS Carlow 1 Limerick 3 Clare 1 Longford 1 Cork 13 Louth 1 Donegal 1 Offaly 2 Dublin 9 Tipperary 1 Galway 2 Waterford 2 Kerry 6 Westmeath 1 Kildare 2 Wexford 1 Kilkenny 1 Wicklow 2 Laois 6 The total number of schools in our programme increased to 213 this year, an increase of 33%. This figure represents schools that have participated in the School Visits Programme directly rather than just receiving a Schools Resource Pack. PAGE 11 YOUTH SUICIDE PREVENTION IRELAND
Page 1 and 2: Annual Report 2018 Youth Suicide Pr
Page 3 and 4: TOWARDS IMPROVING YOUTH MENTAL HEAL
Page 9: TOWARDS IMPROVING YOUTH MENTAL HEAL

Towards Improving Youth Mental Health - Annual Report 2018

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?