Helping adolescents thrive toolkit: strategies to promote and protect adolescent mental health and reduce self-harm and other risk behaviours: executive summary
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World Health Organization
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9 p.
This executive summary provides an overview of the Helping Adolescents Thrive Toolkit, a joint WHO–UNICEF implementation resource developed to support the application of the WHO guidelines on mental health promotive and preventive interventions for adolescents. It highlights the importance of investing in adolescent mental health promotion and prevention to improve well-being, prevent mental health conditions, self-harm and other risk behaviours, and contribute to healthy development. The summary outlines the toolkit’s evidence-informed, social ecological approach and describes its four interrelated strategies: implementation and enforcement of policies and laws; creation of environments that promote and protect adolescent mental health; support for caregivers; and psychosocial interventions for adolescents. It also introduces two cross-cutting implementation approaches focused on multisectoral collaboration and monitoring and evaluation. The publication is intended for policy-makers, programme managers and other stakeholders involved in adolescent health programming. It emphasizes equitable, inclusive, gender-responsive and rights-based implementation, with the active engagement of adolescents, families and communities. The toolkit provides practical implementation considerations, country examples and resource guides to support the adaptation, delivery and monitoring of evidence-informed interventions across diverse settings, with particular attention to adolescents living in situations of vulnerability.
This executive summary provides an overview of the Helping Adolescents Thrive Toolkit, a joint WHO–UNICEF implementation resource developed to support the application of the WHO guidelines on mental health promotive and preventive interventions for adolescents. It highlights the importance of investing in adolescent mental health promotion and prevention to improve well-being, prevent mental health conditions, self-harm and other risk behaviours, and contribute to healthy development. The summary outlines the toolkit’s evidence-informed, social ecological approach and describes its four interrelated strategies: implementation and enforcement of policies and laws; creation of environments that promote and protect adolescent mental health; support for caregivers; and psychosocial interventions for adolescents. It also introduces two cross-cutting implementation approaches focused on multisectoral collaboration and monitoring and evaluation. The publication is intended for policy-makers, programme managers and other stakeholders involved in adolescent health programming. It emphasizes equitable, inclusive, gender-responsive and rights-based implementation, with the active engagement of adolescents, families and communities. The toolkit provides practical implementation considerations, country examples and resource guides to support the adaptation, delivery and monitoring of evidence-informed interventions across diverse settings, with particular attention to adolescents living in situations of vulnerability.