Youth & Adolescents Mental Health

Youth and Adolescents “YAhealth” Digital Health Platform

Like elsewhere on the globe, in Rwanda, Mental health problems exist in our lives, families, workplaces and communities, impacting almost everyone. At the same time, the services, skills and funding available for mental health remain in short supply, and fall far below what is needed, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
In most communities, mental health is disregarded and whoever suffers from the related problems faces judgment by people around him or her, community and the health care providers who could be the ones to be helping. This leads to feelings of embarrassment, discrimination and stigmatized. Consequently, many are unlikely to seek health services and suffer the negative impacts. This plus more other challenges like misconceptions about mental health and related services, fear of judgments by the community, families, health workers and peers, lack of awareness about availability of services, affordability, among others, are what hinders youth from accessing and up taking mental health services.
This way, a lot need to be done as much as possible to prevent mental ill-health – as individuals and as a society. We continue to call on national and local government to prioritize reducing the factors known to pose a risk to people’s mental health, enhancing those known to protect it and creating the conditions needed for people to thrive.
We achieve this through raising awareness of mental health and related services, dismantling the attached sigma and discrimination, advocacy, and offering other social and psychological supports

Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools

Adolescents are more likely to develop mental health issues due to a lot of changes they go through during this stage of development. This way, CHB conducted mental health awareness-raising outreaches in 3 secondary schools of Gasabo District.
CHB’s mental health promotion and prevention interventions aim to strengthen an individual's capacity to regulate emotions, enhance alternatives to risk-taking behaviors, build resilience for managing difficult situations and adversity, and promote supportive social environments and social networks.
In solidarity with the whole World, CHB looks to create a community in which mental health is valued, promoted, and protected; where everyone has an equal opportunity to enjoy mental health and exercise their human rights; and where everyone can access the mental health care they need.
Among its distinguished interventions, this year, CHB conducted outreaches in secondary schools to raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing among adolescents in schools
This campaign started from the World Mental Health Day (on December 10, 2022) and ended on December 28, 2022. It was conducted under the theme “Make Mental Health and Well-being for All A Global Priority”.

The Campaign was conducted in Gasabo District, in collaboration with the Rwanda Biomedical Center, especially the Mental Health Division, and Kibagabaga and Kacyiru Hospitals.
The campaign sessions mainly focused on awareness-raising of Mental wellness; Mental illnesses commonly among youth and adolscents in Rwanda (Anxiety, Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD), and Pychosis); Prevention of drug and alcohol abuse; Ways of maintaining mental health; and Stopping Mental Health Stigma and Discrimination and sharing testimonies as well.
During this campaign, the outreaches were conducted in 3 secondary schools of Gasabo district which are G.S GISOZI I, G.S KINYINYA, and G.S KIMIRONKO II. From there, more than 3,000 students were reached.
In addition, the school leaderships understand well their responsibilities in maintaining their students’ mental health and well-being by engaging them in social activities, sports, and other recreational activities.

Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing through social and mass medias

Social media platforms are progressively developing as rich sources of mass communication and engagement. Increasing mental health awareness with the help of social media can be a good initiative to reach out to a wider number of people in a short time frame.
Mental health is key in every phase of life, from childhood to adulthood. We all go through several milestones and difficulties; mental health is important to keep balance and stability.
Mental health plays a big role in our overall health and wellbeing. Yet, there is still a stigma behind it. Society in general has distorted the view on our mental health and how it affects people. Each and every one of us has a mind, therefore we have a duty to take care of our mental health. The situation is accentuated by the media and the concept of mental illness that is distributed.
Conversations about mental health are something that many individuals have tried to avoid. However, in recent years it has become more and more common for individuals to open up about mental health.
To enhance this and contribute to the mental health awareness, CHB conducted a massive social media campaign which started from the World Mental Health Day (10th December, 2022) to 28th December, 2022 under the theme “Make Mental health and Well-being for All a Global Priority”. Through CHB social media accounts, there have been a lot of posts shared with resources, educational motion videos, posters and motivational posts to show support.
This was done by sharing infographics and posters providing mental health related information and broader messaging to raise awareness of mental health using the summarized information illustrated in well-designed posters and attractive to readers. These messages mainly addressing and breaking misconceptions and myths around mental health were captured and tempered with expert for review and approved messages were posted on all our social media, websites, and individual social media of our esteemed volunteers, stakeholders, and other collaborators.

Mainly the information shared during this campaign looked at raising awareness on distinguished mental health issues, ways of coping, normalizing discussions and openness around mental health, encouraging the affected to seek support, calling for the community to support those struggling with mental health issues, and informing them of where they can get the related support and treatment. This contributed much to the journey of stopping discrimination and stigma against people with mental health issues.
The campaign was conducted by sharing a daily poster or video on social media and other networks, with each day having a unique message. Generally, this campaign was so vibrant and reached a lot of people. Through Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, the shared posts had a total of 51,000 impressions and 13,000 engagements including likes, shares, and retweets.
To add on, personal participation was not limited to the above-mentioned social media as most of the individuals used WhatsApp and Facebook to share information and posters on the statutes, direct messages, and WhatsApp groups. This is undoubtedly reached a lot of people and is thought to have brought a positive change in the perspectives of mental health.
The HashTags: #MHD2022, #MentalHealthMatters, #MentalHealthDayRw
Furthermore, during this campaign, a team of CHB staff were invited to the Isango Star Healthy Life TV Show to talk about the role of everyone in maintaining mental health.
Wthin this one-hour TV Show, the team discussed on distinguished menal healh issues including depression, anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Drugs and Alcohol Addiction, Schizoprenia and the related way of coping and seeking help.
They also shared testimonies and stories about the mental disorder they faced or witnessed and how they got out of it just to help the other people struggling with the same issues to learn from these testimonies.
The Show was too open for these watching to ask qustions and express their opinions and the questions asked were answered.
Apart from the TV Show, the CHB team also conducted the Radio Talk on “The Relationship Between Mental Health and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).

Youth and Adolescents “YAhealth” Digital Health Platform

YAhealth is a bilingual (Kinyarwanda and English), user and age-centered (age groups 10-14, 15-19 and 20-24) offline-online MobileApp, Web Application and USSD Code (*411#) that provides youth and adolescent with reliable and trusted SRHR/FP and Mental Health information, connects them to the available services and gives them a room to talk and interact freely with peers or ASRH and Mental Health Experts.
The misconceptions, fear of judgments by the community, families, health workers and peers, lack of awareness on availability of services, affordability, stigma and embarrassment among others, limit the access to sexual and reproductive and mental health information and related services, and it negatively impacts the lives of young people and adolescents. This way, we’ve come up with an innovation to revolutionize youths’ lives. Smart and mobile phones, mobile apps, and the internet are part of most of youth’s life. Referring to this technology, we invented Youth and Adolescent Health “YAhealth” Application, as the new technology in the community to address this predicament challenge.
In addition, the YAhealth App has:
Menstrual Cycle tracking system that helps girls/women to track and predict their next menstruation and fertile periods, and get notified prior to each of these periods. This then contributes to a proper menstrual hygiene management and prevention of teenage/unwanted pregnancies.
Self- Mental Health Status Screening System with a mix of standardized questions set by WHO on distinguished mental health disorders facing young people, for early and easy detection.
Private Chat which helps young people to chat with ASRHR/FP and Mental Health experts in a youth-friendly and confidential way
Discussion Forum that offers a safe space to openly and freely talk and interact with fellow peers in a youth-friendly, private and confidential environment. This reduces stigma and embarrassment, and isolation, discrimination, anxiety and depression that may arise from loneliness and other factors.
Service Location Tracker which helps the young people to locate the service delivery points including Health centers, Hospitals and Isange One-Stop Center, clinics, youth-friendly centers and corners, and condom kiosks on the map.
Gamified Quizzes which helps young people to assess their level of skills in regards to SRHR/FP and mental health
This Application aims at creating a rapid demand and increasing awareness and uptake of Family Planning/Sexual and Reproductive and Mental Health services amongst youth and adolescents.
You can access the YAhealth Application through the below links:
• YAhealth App for Android
• YAhealth App for IOS
• YAhealth web link

YAhealth Game: Youth and Adolescents Mental Health

This is a Mental Health game designed to be played by peers and peers, children and parents, teachers and students. Its main purpose is to create a rapid demand and increase awareness and uptake of mental health services among young people through social behavior change in a funny learning environment!
The game also practically helps players to learn more about mental health wellness and illnesses, Drug use and addiction and how one can cope with and avoid the use of drugs, and Life skills including the best practices and life styles that improves one’s mental health as well as that of people around him or her. All the information is designed to positively change the attitudes and behaviors as well as mindsets. These include shifting the negative perceptions and misconceptions, dismantling stigma and embarrassment, and abolishing the discrimination around mental health. All messages delivered through this game are via a Question-Answer approach using the cards. The game can be played by 2-4 people. Moreover, this game breaks the silence, stigma, embarrassment, judgements, cultural barriers, misconceptions and myths around mental health.

By meaningfully engaging the young people in the funny learning, this board game contributes to improvement of mental health and equipping the youth with the related information and skills through; increasing key message retention, decreasing anxiety, increasing group cohesiveness, getting them to talk, helping youth learn from each other, energizing players, taking players’ minds off troubles, teaching social and life skills, building the thinking skills, offering a chance to “show off” knowledge, lightening up the setting and FUN!
These tools—both information and skills provided through this game— equip youth for a lifetime of high self-esteem, physical and emotional strength, loving relationships, improved mental health and well-being. These tools will also protect them from stigma and embarrassment, and isolation, discrimination, anxiety and depression that may arise from loneliness and other factors.