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RESTART: Post-Pandemic Guide for Youth Workers

2021-1-DE04-KA153-YOU-0000198062021Mobility of youth workersongoing
Countries: DE|GE|AM|NL|EL|EE|ES|UA|CY · Grant: €27,348
Physical and mental health, well-beingQuality and innovation of youth workDisaster prevention, preparedness and recovery

Objectives

As youth workers, we adapted to the unprecedented challenges brought by the pandemic, experiencing heightened stress and anxiety. This was particularly difficult for individuals with pre-existing conditions like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Limited in-person interactions posed challenges, especially for youngsters dealing with age-related issues, neurosis, and anxiety. The fear of losing loved ones deepened feelings of depression, making emotional control challenging. A published report by clinical psychologists highlighted the potential impact of economic downturn, isolation, increased substance use, insomnia, and lack of community support, with certain groups at higher risk of suicide. To navigate the transition to post-COVID life, youth workers needed new competencies such as empathy, mental hygiene, coping strategies, and self-assessment skills. Recognizing and managing emotions became crucial, even in situations beyond one's control. In April 2020, the European Union Agency stressed the urgent need to promote mental well-being during physical distancing, emphasizing measures to ensure populations had the resilience to adhere to these measures. As part of our action towards controlling the outcomes of the pandemic, we designed a training program that allowed youth workers from various NGOs to obtain necessary tools to optimize their work with youngsters, understanding the real challenges they were facing and the possible risks. These skills were essential for all youth workers. The Training Course was designed in a way to use all the capacity of partner NGOs to create video tutorials that would share "Tips and Tricks" useful for other youth workers across the globe to deal with personal "Post-Pandemic-Stress" and help youngsters overcome the psychological impact of long-term isolation. The main concept of this Mobility of Youth Workers was to combine theoretical psychology with the personal experience of youth workers to produce video material that would help other youth workers maintain mental hygiene and deal with stress more effectively. The main objectives of the training course were: - To broaden understanding of well-being practices and mental health policies for the youth in different countries of the EU and neighbouring regions. - To improve mental hygiene competencies linked to professional profiles of youth workers. - To increase motivation and satisfaction in daily work. - To support youth workers in assessing the mental state of their target groups and eliminating potential risks. - To create a video toolkit for the youth workers that could be used to promote mental hygiene among fellow youth workers. - To promote coping strategies that can help youngsters deal with the mental challenges caused by COVID-19. Following the approval of the project, new challenges to mental well-being emerged, notably with the conflicts in Ukraine, Armenia, and Israel. With the world becoming increasingly vulnerable, maintaining a healthy mental state has become even more challenging, prompting us to address these issues as part of our efforts.

Project partners (9)