Associazione MAMA had the privilege of concluding the Mental Health Matters (MHM) project in partnership with NGO United Youth from North Macedonia, Drawing to Health from the Netherlands, and Fundacja Marki Polskiej from Poland. The primary objectives of this project were to enhance the competencies, knowledge, and skills of organizational staff, employees, youth workers, and volunteers from four organizations in the field of mental health protection, using yoga as a method of relaxation.
The core objectives of the MHM project included:
- Facilitating an exchange of national best practices in the field of mental health protection.
- Promoting yoga as a mechanism for stress management and raising public health awareness.
- Preparing two intellectual outputs (IOs) that will be used by the organizations in future education and cooperation initiatives.
As part of the transnational meetings, four training sessions were organized to educate staff members in the field of mental health protection.
Mental Health Matters (MHM) in Summary:
- Promotion and Education: Presenting mental health protection strategies, using stress management techniques and yoga as a relaxation mechanism across four sessions in four countries for employees, organizational staff, youth workers, volunteers, and young people.
- Exchange of Best Practices: Sharing positive practices in mental health protection, promoting yoga as a relaxation method, and providing tools for stress and depression management.
- Creating Educational Resources: Developing two key outputs:
- Education for Mental Health Protection through Non-Formal Learning – Yoga for Youth: Mental Health and Harmony.
- Eating Well for Mental Health: These resources focus on raising public awareness about mental health protection, healthy eating habits, and sports activities through four public events aimed at promoting health awareness.
The MHM project was structured around several key phases:
- Strengthening Cooperation: Enhancing collaboration between partner organizations, promoting best practices for mental health protection, and defining effective practices for working with youth.
- Promoting Yoga: Introducing yoga as a positive method for managing depression, stress, and encouraging active involvement in a healthy lifestyle.
- Public Awareness: Highlighting the role of the non-governmental sector in fostering positive changes and raising awareness about mental health care for youth.
- Improving Organizational Capacities: Enhancing the capacity of partner organizations to promote mental health protection and support individuals with fewer opportunities.
- Youth Engagement: Encouraging the promotion of yoga, sports, healthy eating, and better mental health awareness among young people by designing an output manual for raising public awareness at both EU and international levels.
- Designing Outputs: Developing two intellectual outputs that will be used by partner organizations and collaborators in the future.
- Public Events and Campaigns: Organizing four national public events and campaigns across partner countries to raise public awareness about mental health protection.
Thanks to our collaboration, we were able to successfully achieve these milestones, from organizing meetings with all partners to creating a comprehensive work plan, developing the two key outputs, and hosting multiplier events to raise awareness about mental health protection. Here are the key accomplishments:
- Coordinated Meetings: MAMA, through its coordination efforts, organized four meetings with partners in Milan, Skopje, Warsaw, and Amsterdam, aligning our efforts to achieve the project objectives.
- Collaborative Efforts on Digital Resources: MAMA and its partners worked together on a shared Drive link to develop the two outputs, along with posters, banners, and digital materials for project promotion.
- Yoga Awareness Session: To raise awareness about yoga as a healthy mental health practice, MAMA organized a free yoga session in Milan led by a yoga expert.
- Public Events: MAMA organized multiple events in collaboration with partner countries across all four locations, expanding the project’s reach and enabling others to learn more about mental health protection.
- Resource Development: A mentor manual handbook, as well as the two aforementioned project outputs, were developed.
We would like to extend special thanks to all our partners, stakeholders, participants, and the Italian National Agency for their invaluable support and the opportunity to launch and successfully conclude this project.
You can find the links to the manual handbook presentation and output below:
- Output 1: Yoga for Youth: Mental Health and Harmony.
- Output 2: Eating Well For Mental Health
- Mentorship Handbook Template
- Manual Powerpoint Presentation
Feel free to explore all resources for detailed information and contact us for further information on the project via our email address.
Mental health is indeed wealth!
Migration and Migration Alignment (MAMA) 