“Let’s Just Talk” podcasts – LiMSA Lithuania

Name of the activity: “Let’s Just Talk” podcasts

Country/NMO: LiMSA Lithuania

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

Sustainable Development Goals addressed: SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being)

General description:

In order to enlighten the youth regarding different mental health topics and destigmatize mental illness we created a podcast called ,,Let’s just talk”. Every episode has a different topic, whether it’s about a specific mental illness or self help, some have guest including healthcare experts and medical professionals. Podcasts are very accessible and popular amongst our peers, and that opens ,,Let’s just talk” to a much bigger audience. 

Problem statement:

Mental illness is a serious problem in Lithuania. There are, positive trends and a consistent decrease in suicide rates was observed from 2010 to 2020, but it was still the highest reported in the EU. The prevalence of depression has been increasing in Lithuania ‒ from 15 cases per 1,000 of the population in 2011 to 24 cases per 1,000 in 2019. Our task as medical students is to spread awareness and encourage people to seek mental help.

Target groups:

• General population
• Medical students

Beneficiaries:

• General population
• Medical students
• Healthcare Students
• Other Students
• Doctors
• Other health professionals
• Youth
• People with disabilities

Objectives:

•       By the end of the activity, 4 podcasts are created about  various Mental Health related topics such as stigma around psychiatric hospitals, stigma around mental health disorders and seeking help, stigma around medical personnel related to psychiatric disorders.
•       The needs of the audience ought to be accommodated by providing comprehensible content and promoting it on various social media networks for example Instagram and Facebook to increase accessibility, thus ensuring a reach of at least 100 listeners every time the podcast is uploaded. 
•       The podcast creation team ought to have a strong work ethic and distinguish itself as a punctual, permanent, equal goal-oriented unit to ensure smooth workflow and consistency for the whole period of the project. 

Indicators:

1.       The created content did not deviate from the consistent theme of Mental Health and by the end of the activity 4 podcasts were produced on  topics related to Mental Health stigma. 
2.       The reach of at least 100 listeners was accomplished by providing comprehensible information on podcasts and promoting it on various NMO’s social media accounts after every shared podcast.
3.       The information-gathering tasks of the team were always finished on time, each member was held responsible for their work quality and strived to accomplish better results for the prosperity of the whole team. 

Methodology:

•       The general functioning of the team is monitored by the coordinator who makes sure that each member is carrying out the tasks accordingly to their appointed roles. 
•       The coordinator prepares a specific plan for the podcasts and checks the validity of the information that is gathered by the team members
•       The hosts use the plan as well as the gathered information to prepare for the podcast. 
•       The audio and video technicians ensure that the recording process is smooth and that technical mistakes are avoided.
•       The search for competent guests is carried out by all members. 

Plans for evaluation:

The best measure of our success and progress is through feedback. Since our podcasts are online and accessible to everyone we expect to get feedback from our listeners.

Also, conducting discussions amongst the team to evaluate the work and reflect on how can we improve.

External collaborations:

None