Mind Your Head’ DVD, a new HSE South/Youth Work Ireland Cork/Gurranabraher resource to help those working with young people talk about mental health issues, will be launched by Ms. Kathleen Lynch T.D., Minister for Mental Health today, Monday 25th February 2013 in the North Monastery School, North Monastery Road, Cork.

The ‘Mind Your Head’ programme is the product of an excellent partnership between the HSE South’s Health Action Zone in Gurranabraher and Youth Work Ireland Cork, who have worked together shaping this programme and making it relevant, practical and user friendly. Designed specifically for youth workers, youth leaders, peer educators and others working with young people, the programme was conceived in 2008 as a response to particular needs expressed by local young people around self harm and mental health.

The DVD, which has been produced by the North Monastery Transition Year students follows on from the successful publication of the Mind Your Head Resource in 2010. The DVD is another tool, co-produced, written and directed by the young people of the north west area of Cork city, to promote discussion on several areas of mental health that are important to young people presently. These include exam stress, image, and financial stress on young people as well as depression and drug abuse.

Speaking at the launch, Ms. Kathleen Lynch T.D., Minister for Mental Health said, “This resource is an excellent model of partnership in action. I am delighted the HSE South is involved in this project that represents the HSE South’s policy of supporting community involvement in the health services. The involvement of young people in this initiative is highly effective in ensuring the final product is user friendly and relevant. I wish the students every success with this initiative which no doubt will have a positive outcome for many in the months and years ahead”.

Stephen Murphy, HSE South Community Health Worker, Gurranabraher Health Action Zone said “The Mind Your Head programme will over this school year be offered to all secondary schools on the north west of Cork city. This will be accomplished through the shadowing method of training used by HSE Health Action Zone and Youth Work Ireland Cork/Gurranabraher, which has increased the number of trainers to six in the north west of the city”.

“The programme is mostly delivered to Transition Year or Leaving Cert Applied (5th Year) students. This school year will see 130 young people take part in the Mind Your Head programme and parts of the programme have also been adapted by the Cork Mental Health Foundation in the updating of their one day secondary schools mental health training”.

The HSE South’s Health Action Zone is working to bring services closer to the local communities of Knocknaheeny / Gurranabraher / Churchfield and provide health services in a manner which provides a positive outcome for the community in the area. Initiatives such as the ‘Mind Your Head’ DVD play a vital part in this, encouraging discussion, raising awareness and supporting effective responses to mental health issues in young people.

Diane Mackin, Youth Worker with Youth Work Ireland Cork said: “The Mind Your Head programme is an easy to use resource that can be used by anyone working with young people in Youth projects/centres/clubs, schools and youthreach projects. It’s very much about giving young people space and time to explore and talk about their concerns and opinions on mental health. It also highlights tools and supports to help them cope and deal with issues that can have a negative affect on their mental health”. It can be used as a full programme workshop-by-work-shop or the various workshops can be delivered as individual sessions; if a group of young people had an issue around conflict the worker could use the conflict session”.

The ‘Mind Your Head’ programme begins with an introduction outlining the origins, aims and some tips on using the resource followed by eight sessions that explore a range of topics in relation to mental health and young people such as conflict, communication, drugs & alcohol and image.