In Reflection – SloMSA Slovakia

Name of the activity: In Reflection

Country/NMO: SloMSIC Slovenia

Program: Mental Health

Contact information: contact [email protected] to get in touch with the Activity Coordinator

Type of the activity: Continuous Activity

Category: Education

Focus area: Mental Health promotion and Prevention, Mental Health advocacy and public awareness, Dangers of substance abuse, Integration of mental health within primary healthcare, Mental Health among Medical Students, Communities especially vulnerable to mental health, Children’s Mental Health

Sustainable Development Goals addressed: SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG 17 (Partnerships)

General description:

The aim of the project In Reflection is to shine light on the importance of mental health and to raise awareness and destigmatize mental health disorders. We organize many different activities, with the main one being workshops for high school students across Slovenia. Annually we organise a Living Library, two conferences about different aspects of mental health, a roundtable discussion on the use of drugs, an online campaign for the World Suicide Prevention Day and many other events.  

Problem statement:

Acording to the data from the World Health Organization 1 in 8 people in the world suffers from some kind of mental health disorder. Although there had been a great improvement in the society’s attitude towards mental health and mental health disorders in the last decade, mental health and well being is still not treated as important as physical health. The aim of the project In Reflection is therefore to the raise the awareness about the importance of mental health among people.

Target groups:

• General population
• Medical students
• Other Students
• Youth
• Women
• LGBTQIA+ community

Beneficiaries:

• General population
• Medical students
• Healthcare Students
• Other Students
• Doctors

Objectives:

-In 2023 we will conduct 40 workshops for high school students across Slovenia and  educate at least 1200 students about the importance of mental health and destigmatization of mental health disorders.

-In 2023 we will organize the Living Library with at least 10 living books and have at least 50 readers or participants.

-In 2023 we will organize 2 conferences regarding different mental health topics and have all together at least 200 participants. 70% of participants will rate the event as very good or excellent.

-In march we will mark the Self-injury Awareness Day with a poetry competition for the youth between ages 12 and 26. We will get at least 30 entries and announce 6 best poems.

-We will write and publish 10 articles on various mental health topics on the government’s web portal for youth (mlad.si.)

-We will mark Eating Disorders Awareness Week by setting up a stand in the lobby of the faculty and on the city’s main square. We will distribute at least 100 information leaflets.

Indicators:

-The high school students will assess their attitude towards mental health and their knowledge of mental health disorders with higher score after the workshop than they did before the workshop.

-We will reach the set number of participants of the Living Library and 70% of participants will estimate that after participating in our event they have developed more empathy and understanding towards people with the experience of mental health disorders.

-We will reach the set number of participants of the conferences and 70% of participants will assess the event as very good or excellent. 70% of participants will estimate that after participating in our conferences they have a better understanding of mental health disorders.

-We will reach the set number of entries for our poetry competition. 

-Our published articles will get at least 1000 reads.

-We will reach the set number of distributed information leaflets on eating disorders.

Methodology:

Our project operates on the national level and every year we organize various events and activities, some of them being described in the previous questions. The activities and events that we organize are divided evenly throughout the year, so that almost every month of the year there is some kind of activity or event. All of the members of the project are medical students that voluntarily participate in all of the stages of organizing our events and activities. Our project has a new leader every year and some of the members have special roles, for example promotion manager, who makes sure that our activities are properly promoted on our social media and other information platforms, and project treasurer who has an overview of the project’s finances. Currently we have around 30 active members who  participate in the organization of events and activities according to their own wishes and abilities. We get funded by two main funders, described in the question below.

Plans for evaluation:

-Workshops for high school students will be evaluated with a short questionnaire for the students right before and right after the workshop. With the asked questions we will evaluate the student’s own assessment of their attitude towards mental health and their knowledge in the field of mental health disorders.

-We will kindly ask every participant of the Living Library to fill out an evaluation form, in which they will evaluate the organization of the event and the change of their attitude regarding mental health disorders. 

-We will kindly ask every participant of our conferences to fill out an evaluation form, in which they will evaluate the organization of the event and the the improvement of their knowledge in the field of mental health disorders.

-We will keep a record of all the submitted entries of our poetry competition.

-We will keep a record of the number of reads of all our published articles.

-We will keep a record of the number of distributed information leaflets.

External collaborations:

Our project is being supported by the two main funders, City of Ljubljana and Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth, the first being the municipality of the city of Ljubljana and the second one being the government agency. They fund us in the form of sponsorships.