Title: Mental Health Training Kit + Local Facilitators Training Program for Municipalities
Country: PORTUGAL
Form(s) of actions:
Basic Mental Health Kit (online): a mini-course for individuals; Group kick-off session (online) to discuss advanced concepts about mental health and theoretical-practical analysis of community intervention strategies; Group supervision session (online) to clarify doubts and discuss experiences in the field; Monitoring (online) of concrete activities carried out by local facilitators in the community: survey of resources and needs, establishment of partnerships with health institutions, organization of public sessions, among others.
Type(s) of actions
Information/education; networking/partnership building; (own proposals for solutions).
Summary:
The Mental Health Basic Kit, a free mini-course on mental health available on-line, and The Local Facilitators Training Program that encourage participants to develop actions to promote mental health in their communities are both citizens’ initiatives developed by Manifestamente: citizen initiative for Mental Health – a non-profit association with public utility status with public funding from the Directorate-General for Health, the National Program for Mental Health.
Aim:
The Mental Health Basic Kit is a free mini-course (total 90 minutes) available on-line with essential information about mental health that we should all know to help us deal with our own difficulties and those of the people around us.” The Local Facilitators Training Program (includes the kit as its first step) “aims to directly increase the literacy of its participants and also encourage them to develop actions to promote mental health in their communities.
Main stakeholders:
“ManifestaMente: citizen initiative for Mental Health” – a non-profit association with public utility status that developed the kit and the program; Directorate-General for Health and National Program for Mental Health (funding); Health Regional Administrations (partners); Municipalities and their partner’s institutions (partners); local authorities, higher education students, non-profit organizations and companies that want to train their employees to develop mental health promotion initiatives in their contexts (program); professionals from the referred entities (program); and general public (Kit).
Issues addressed:
Mental health literacy (what mental health is, how we can take care of our own mental health, what are the signs of concern regarding mental health, what mental illness is, what resources are available if we need help and how we can help others); capacity building for dynamization of mental health promotion initiatives in the community (including for establishing networks).
Outcome:
Mini-course (one year after the launch): 15.206 people signed up to view the course; 3.777 people have completed the course; Most participants felt better able to: identify when they need help; help themselves when not feeling well; know where to turn if need help; identify signs of concern in others; and helping someone who is not feeling well; The scales used to assess the stigma associated with mental illness also show that the Kit has an impact on reducing it. Training Program (1st edition): 160 participants integrated the program; 66 facilitators have completed all the necessary steps for the certification process (the implementation of at least 4 of the proposed activities on the ground). To date, at least 1.627 people have been reached by the initiatives developed by local facilitators.A positive evolution in the mental health literacy scale (MHLq) was recorded in 46% of participants.
Sustainability:
The original basic mini-course continues on-line and has each year new registrations and completions; There is an on-going second edition of the training program (with a different funder); A version of the kit for deaf persons was developed; A kit for kids was developed; There is an on-line list of certified Local Facilitators who are available to be contacted to establish partnerships and jointly develop mental health initiatives.
Link(s):
https://www.manifestamente.org/
https://www.manifestamente.org/kit-baacutesico-de-sauacutede-mental.html
https://www.manifestamente.org/blog/capacitar-dinamizadores-locais
Data source: Manifestamente webpage; RESPONSIVE Task 3.1: Review media coverage of protests and campaigns.