When interpreting the research results and planning interventions, it is important to understand youth as a developmental phase and the qualities of contemporary vulnerable youth, their way of life and their needs.
WP5 crosscuts and triangulates the themes of WP2-WP4 and broadens the perspectives to inter-generational aspects and to points of view of service providers and of the youth themselves. WP5 will build on an ending joint project (NUMPA) by the Finnish Youth Research Network, the A-Clinic Foundation, MIELI Mental Health Finland and the Youth Shelter at the Finnish Red Cross that has collated information about best practices and effective methods in social care and low-threshold services to support young peopleʼs mental health.
Three different data sets will be used in WP5 to increase understanding of the world of the young people. WP5 will focus on service use of distressed youth, but also common factors and social mechanisms behind overdoses, severe violence, and suicidal behavior will be dealt with. The role of the social and cultural environment in causing despair will be deepened by contacting hard-to-reach youth with experiences of self-harm, suicidal ideation, violence, or drug use through a network of different NGOs and through online chat discussions (Sekasin Chat). The data sets provide a rare insight into the messages of the despairing youth and information on the experiences of young people on how mental health and addiction services meet or dismiss their needs.
