Innovative, Recreational, Stress Relief Youth Empowerment Strategies
JOY is Erasmus+ strategic partnership project in youth field for six partners from Romania, Estonia, France, Norway and Lithuania (2020-2022). It is a project addressing youth aged 14-20, on one hand and youth educators, parents, teachers, health professionals, on the other hand.
The aim of the project is to raise awareness on youth burnout danger among the target groups and stakeholders as highly important and stringent issue related to children mental health and to provide a widely usable training solutions and burnout prevention and coping skills through partner cooperation and exchange of expertise, methodologies and good practices in order to reduce the effects and consequences in EU.
Project objectives are:
• Raise awareness on burnout and equip over 10000 young people with active burnout preventing and coping skills by developing a training package, a workshop toolkit, a best practice collection and effective learning and career planning guidelines for better lifestyle management, healthier decisions, more rational perspectives on competitions, skills in identifying and pursuing personal mastery goals, learning abilities and time management, in 24 months.
• Raise awareness among over 30000 youth workers, teachers, parents and provide them effective and attractive tools to prevent youngsters burnout during the 2 years of project. The initiative offers improved knowledge, skills and practices in youth burnout prevention and coping, a new and not enough approached topic widely affecting European youth, in a highly accessible and attractive manner using recognized and validated training methodology, burnout recovery best practice collection, therapeutic workshops and guidelines for developing their career and learning effectively.
The project initiative will raise awareness on youth burnout on more than 12000 youth and 2000 adults concerned, it will provide 24 trained youth workers, 24 youth trained internationally, 100 young people trained locally in youth burnout prevention and coping skills.
The resulting products offer the advantage of being innovative and sustainable as they are easily transferable to other optional schools and universities curricula, NGO training and activities all over Europe.
According to World Health Organisation, 10-20% of children and adolescents experience a diagnosable mental illness world-wide. 50% of these mental illnesses begin by the age of 14 and 75% by mid 20s. At the European level, in the top 5 causes of illnesses among youth are depression and anxiety. In low and middle income countries suicide is the first cause for death among youngsters between 10-19 years old. In high-income countries, suicide is the second cause leading to death. Causes of this phenomenon are: fears and dilemmas coming up in their trek to adulthood, peer pressure, adults pressure, stress induced by the educational system, competitive society and the need to succeed pressure. Burnout effects may lead to serious consequences: health problems, lack of motivation and involvement, school dropout, conflicts, juvenile crime. Youth stress and burnout are not enough taken seriously by youth themselves, by parents, educators or health professionals even if relief measures can bring important positive consequences on youth wellbeing, school performances, relationships, family life, future.
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This document has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the project partners and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.
