Puberty is a crucial phase of life in which young people experience many changes and upheavals.

To support their burgeoning mental health and empower them to better cope with the vagaries of everyday life, the Association pour la santé publique du Québec (ASPQ) is launching a new website entitled Positive mental health is cultivated.

Aimed at both parents and actors working in a school context, this platform offers a repertoire of tools to better support young people and create living environments conducive to their mental health.

“Young people’s mental health is an essential and unfortunately fragile resource,” stresses Safiétou Sakala, campaign director. Positive mental health can be cultivatedwithin the ASPQ, via press release.

According to the Survey of Mental Health of 12-25 Year Olds, released in March 2022, nearly a quarter of high school students in Quebec feel their mental health is fair or poor. Additionally, anxiety and depression symptoms tend to increase between the ages of 12 and 19.

Good mental health is not limited to the absence of mental health disorders. “These data underscore the importance of supporting young people in acquiring skills that enable them to promote and protect their mental health, such as: B. dealing with emotions and social influences, as well as asking for help for herself or for others Ms. Sakala, in the same statement to the media. Positive mental health allows us to enjoy life and deal effectively with the challenges we face. It provides a positive sense of emotional, spiritual and social well-being.”

tools directory

The online directory Positive mental health can be cultivatedprovides parents and various professionals working with young people and secondary schools with simple and practical tools to promote positive mental health in these young people.

Tools for professionals are classified according to their function. The proposed content therefore enables them to acquire the concepts of positive mental health, to train and impart knowledge, to plan, implement and finally evaluate measures.

On the parent side, these are tools for themselves or for their youngsters aged 5-25.

The ASPQ team regularly updates the tool directory with new entries. Also the section Tools to discover this month of the site highlights recent additions.

The website brings together tools from various organizations and institutions that have developed expertise in positive mental health.

accompaniment

Just like the young people it accompanies, the repertoire of tools will grow over time.

In the coming months, it will be expanded to include content for parents and professionals related to primary school children and young people in general adult education or vocational training.

The community sector is also highlighted with the addition of content produced by and for them. (CP/IJL)