Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 March 2014
188. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which the mental health of teenagers and young persons remains an issue for concern in her Department in view of the extent to which incidents have been recorded in recent years to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14657/14]
View answerThe issue of mental health and well-being in young people is a complex issue requiring inputs from a wide range of stakeholders including young people, parents, schools, the media, youth organisations and the Primary Care and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services HSE.
The prime responsibility for policy in relation to the treatment and support for young people with mental health problems currently lies with the Department of Health and the HSE.
My Department supports the The National Youth Health Programme which is a partnership between the National Youth Council of Ireland, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the HSE. The programme aims to provide a broad-based, flexible health promotion/education support and training service to youth organisations and to all those working with young people in out-of-school settings.
This work is achieved through the development of programmes and interventions specifically for and with youth organisations throughout the country and the provision of training and support for workers and volunteers who implement these programmes. It is covered under the Mindout Mental Health Promotion training and resource pack delivered to youth organisations. The training is based on the resource Mindout which was developed by Health Promotion HSE West and NUI Galway. Mindout is a twelve session mental health programme which takes a positive approach to the promotion of emotional and mental health among young people, looking at the ways they cope ranging from personal coping skills to informal networks of support to professional or voluntary support services. Mindout adopts a universal mental health promotion approach which has strong links with the “Support for all” element of the recent guidelines on Mental Health Promotion for Schools published by the HSE, Department of Education and Skills and the National Office for Suicide Prevention.
The Learning Content includes
- Expressing Feelings
- Coping strategies and resilience
- Gender differences in coping behaviour
- The importance of social support
- Dealing with rejection and depression
- Positive self-talk
- Seeking help
The National Youth Health Programme also offers a Specialist Certificate in Youth Health Promotion. This programme is accredited by NUIG and adopts a whole organisational approach to health promotion. It focuses on a holistic model of an individual’s health and mental health and reinforces youth work as a valuable setting for mental health promotion.
Actions needed to address this issue obviously extend way beyond the remit of my Department. My Department is currently leading the preparation of the new Children and Young People’s Policy Framework which will represent a new whole-for government approach to addressing issues affecting children and young people including their health, mental health and well being.
