Suicide prevention for youth - a mental health awareness program: lessons learned from the Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE) intervention study

Abstract

BackgroundThe Awareness program was designed as a part of the EU-funded Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE) intervention study to promote mental health of adolescents in 11 European countries by helping them to develop problem-solving skills and encouraging them to self-recognize the need for help as well as how to help peers in need.MethodsFor this descriptive study all coordinators of the SEYLE Awareness program answered an open-ended evaluation questionnaire at the end of the project implementation. Their answers were synthesized and analyzed and are presented here.ResultsThe results show that the program cultivated peer understanding and support. Adolescents not only learned about mental health by participating in the Awareness program, but the majority of them also greatly enjoyed the experience.ConclusionsRecommendations for enhancing the successes of mental health awareness programs are presented. Help and cooperation from schools, teachers, local politicians and other stakeholders will lead to more efficacious future programs.

Stigma and discrimination related to mental illness in low- and middle-income countries

“…Within the limited qualitative literature, even fewer studies are carried out in LAMICs (Thornicroft et al in press). A recent systematic review appraising the global evidence for effective interventions to change mental health stigma revealed a single randomised controlled trial (RCT), with qualitative outcomes, carried out over several countries, including some LAMICs (Wasserman et al 2012). 'Regarding interventions related to knowledge rather than attitudes or behaviour/discrimination' (Thornicroft et al 2007), this project was an educational awareness programme and it was developed to meet the mental health needs of adolescents using a mixture of learning modalities.…”

Programas de prevención del suicidio adolescente en establecimientos escolares: una revisión de la literatura

“…Destaca el amplio número de escolares participantes (11.000) y lo riguroso de su diseño metodológico. Si bien todavía sus resultados no han sido publicados, los primeros informes destacan que el programa de psicoeducación, no solamente tuvo una alta participación y compromiso de los escolares 50 , sino que además disminuyó el número de intentos suicidas a los 3 y 12 meses en comparación con el grupo control. También disminuyeron el número de intentos a los 12 meses en las otras dos intervenciones (gatekeepers y screening); todas las intervenciones, además, disminuyeron la sintomatología depresiva a los 3 meses 51 .…”

The Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE) Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT): methodological issues and participant characteristics

“…Teachers were trained through the gatekeeper program: Question, Persuade and Refer, developed in the US by the QPR Institute [16]. Pupils were trained through a standardized awareness-increasing program [15,17] designed to promote knowledge of mental health, healthy lifestyles and behaviours among adolescents. A professional screening program performed by psychiatrists and psychologists was specifically designed for the SEYLE study.…”