What supports mental health and wellbeing in youth social action?
This blog, focused on mental health and wellbeing in Youth Social Action (YSA), is part of a learning series produced as part of the #iwill Fund Impact Evaluation and Learning Contract (IELC). We specifically look at four themes that can better understand how quality principles apply to different aspects of YSA and in different context – these are: mental health and wellbeing, equity and antiracism, youth-led design and accessibility in YSA. It is hoped that by reading this it will raise awareness of mental health among young people taking part in YSA activities, which ultimately helps children and young people to have a thriving future.
As the Learning Partner for the #iwill Fund Impact Evaluation and Learning Contract (IELC), we asked this question in a workshop with young people and youth social action practitioners. To answer this question, we started by agreeing on what we mean when talking about mental health and wellbeing.
What do we mean by mental health and wellbeing in youth social action (YSA)?
These terms are often blended together. However, there are differences between:
Diagnosed mental health conditions.
Common mental health difficulties such as anxiety and depression, whether or not they are diagnosed.
Well-being.
Things like confidence, agency and self-esteem.
Taking part in YSA itself may have benefits for and challenges to each of the different dimensions of mental health and wellbeing listed above, for example, by fostering a sense of belonging, reducing social isolation, improving confidence and self-esteem, and building relationships or alleviating stress.
YSA activities may also specifically focus on mental health as an ‘issue’, and young people engaging in such activities may have their own lived expertise of mental health-related experiences.
Is youth social action always good for young people’s mental health and wellbeing?
The answer isn’t so clear cut. Young people in our workshops told us that the level of benefit depends on several factors, and some forms of YSA can even cause negative impacts on mental health and wellbeing (as reported elsewhere).
Which factors have an effect on young people fully benefitting from youth social action?
Our workshops highlighted how much accessibility played a part in this. For example:
Geographical differences – this impacts wider mental health supports available in the local communities in which YSA takes place.
Exclusion of young people from YSA because they are viewed as too ‘risky’ to work with in terms of vulnerability, safeguarding or complexity of need – this particularly affects care leavers, people with offending backgrounds, substance use, peer perpetrators of abuse.
Anxiety or inexperience in working with young people deemed as ‘vulnerable’ or ‘risky’.
A lack of willingness or capacity to hold or support ‘risk’ – this may be especially true in small organisations which may be less well connected to wider support services, with high staff turnover and low funding.
Young people with lived experience (‘experts by experience’) working in the healthcare sector – these young people may not benefit from the same supports as those undertaking YSA elsewhere, since “Youth Social Action” is not necessarily formally recognised or supported as such in many healthcare settings.
Negative impact of youth social action
In terms of the potentially negative effects of YSA, participants pointed to several scenarios:
When an individual young persons’ needs are not considered in supporting them to undertake YSA.
When the pace of activities or level of ‘stretch’ is too fast or to slow.
Feeling alone in YSA due to isolation from peers that are not involved.
Burnout and/or feeling under pressure in their YSA activities.
Emotional burden from engaging with topics such as climate change, mental health, or racism, for example.
Group YSA work around mental health (e.g. campaigning, awareness raising) may not always be optimal for young people experiencing some mental health issues. For example, where there is a ‘competitive’ element (e.g. eating disorders), or where there is a risk of re-traumatisation.
How can mental health and wellbeing be considered in designing and planning youth social action activities?
Value and support young people’s voices within healthcare settings - Healthcare professionals and providers should look to engage with young people and practitioners already involved in YSA. Consider whether some groups may need to have separate spaces for separate issues, or even one-to-one support. Develop a best-practice charter for youth participation in health care settings to support safe, trauma-informed practice for young mental health experienced people to have their voice heard within health settings.
Holistically understand and support mental health and wellbeing within YSA spaces - This includes considering young people’s mental health and wellbeing needs, as well as how other factors may impact upon their physical and emotional capacity to engage in YSA over time, such as exams, relationships, personal issues, lifestyle, personal relevance of the topic etc.
Co-develop strategies to help prevent burnout and ask young people what support they want - Collaboration between young people and practitioners to develop healthy strategies that support wellbeing and create the conditions that might help support mental health within YSA spaces.
Boost workforce confidence and support - Staff involved in YSA activities need to feel supported to be open and honest about what might be impacting them at work and where the limits of their confidence lie. Having conversations about mental health within team meetings, supervisions or wherever seems appropriate could help to create more safe spaces for people to discuss mental health and to develop their own practice to be able to support others.
Co-produce peer-led training and learn about mental health - For example, Mental Health First Aid training was discussed as a way to support practitioners involved with YSA activities to develop their mental health awareness. However, the group also imagined how much more effective and impactful it could be if it was delivered by and for young people.
Challenge culture and mindsets around ‘risky behaviours’ - Organisational anxieties around working with ‘risk’ create unhelpful boundaries and barriers to working collaboratively with more diverse groups of young people. Instead, focusing on behaviours as being the consequence of stress or distress may be helpful in reducing risk-aversion and instead create more human and relational approaches to supporting people.
Utilise ethical review processes to support better design for inclusion in relation to mental health supports - Ethical review processes help us to interrogate planning and support for young people from early stages in the process, however, it is important to make these are young person-driven over being too over organisationally-led.
Draw on and learn from examples from other fields - For example, trauma informed practice within “youth violence” and other practice area has helped to promote agency and choice by deconstructing stigmatising ways of working. Service user and survivor movements in mental health fields have helped increase the voice and agency of people receiving mental health supports.
Final reflections
In summary, the Learning Strand offered a small window of opportunity for adults and young people to come together and reflect on what supporting young people’s mental health and wellbeing in YSA means to them and how it might be furthered within their work.
YSA can be good for mental health, but this isn’t a given. Not all young people experience mental health benefits from taking part and/or some aspects may be potentially harmful for mental health depending on current conditions and environment. Finally, young people engaged in supporting healthcare services may not be seen as doing “Youth Social Action”, and so may not be supported in the same way as others involved in different types of YSA work. If you’d like more information on how YSA can best support mental health, and for whom, read this report by the People’s Palace Projects.