health and wellbeing

There’s more than one way to build resilience

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By Gary Lovatt

Working intensively with partners from Health, Crime and Education it’s hard to get through a meeting these days without the mention of needing to build ‘better resilience’ in young people.

Indeed it’s refreshing that after years of apparent compartmentalisation of behaviours into different areas (alcohol, smoking, sexual activity, anti-social behaviour, self-harming etc) we’re learning that attitudes and behaviours generally start with addressing the protective factors that allow young people to make better, informed choices.

So how do you achieve and measure resilience? The answer is that you need to adopt a multi-targeted strategy, starting with examining the determinants of those behaviours in more detail. Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in Alcohol Reduction, emotional health, Mental Health, Public Health, Research, Sex and Relationship Education, Social Marketing, Social Norms, Youth Work and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Seek Prevention not Treatment

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By Grace Kelly

It has been unavoidable in the news recently; from exam stress causing teen suicides to a report finding that more than 25% of young people referred to mental health services such as CAMHs are receiving no specialist help at all because cases are not deemed ‘serious’ enough.

The simple fact is that the numbers of young people suffering from crippling conditions like anxiety and depression is growing, with teen self-harm and suicide also on the increase; and mental health services simply cannot cope. Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in emotional health, Mental Health, Public Health, Youth Work and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Changing Young Lives Using Mindfulness and Therapeutic Life Coaching

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mindful-me

Changing Young Lives Using Mindfulness and Therapeutic Life Coaching

The Emotional Health and Wellbeing of our young people remains our greatest challenge. Exam targets, conformity pressures and the 24/7 spotlight of social media are just some of the reasons cited for the rises in anxiety, depression and unhappiness we are seeing in our surveys. Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in Education and PSHE, Mental Health, Public Health and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

Mindfulness – the next part of our journey

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mindfulness-title (2)Over the past 6 years we have been working with young people on programmes designed to challenge perceptions, create informed choices and build resilience.

Identifying and tackling Social Norms can make a measurable difference in terms of reducing risk taking behaviour among teenagers and adolescents. Understanding peer behaviour has enabled us to measurably tackle drinking, smoking and drug rates.

When it comes to emotional health and wellbeing however, a more subtle approach is often needed. Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in Education and PSHE, Mental Health, Public Health and tagged , , , , , , , .

We’re Changing Young Lives for the Better! Come & find out how!

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Investment in Early Intervention and Prevention strategies can change lives and lead to incredible physical, emotional and financial benefits.

We’re therefore delighted that over 100,000 young people are benefitting from an approach that is changing attitudes and perceptions for the better, which in turn is leading to healthier lifestyle choices for young people.

Social Sense is launching a series of events in February and March 2015 and this is your invitation to come along to find out ‘what works’ when it comes to engaging young people. Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in Community Safety, Education and PSHE, Public Health, Sex and Relationship Education, Social Marketing, Social Norms and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Young People Must Lead the Change

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Viv Bennett, the Department of Health’s Director of Nursing, recently posted a great blog on how consulting with young people makes for more effective Public Health messages.

Titled “Nothing about us without us”, she comments on how “listening to children and young people is core to PHE and Department of Health values”. For 5 years now that is exactly what we have been doing with our R U Different? programme which uncovers real attitudes and perceptions of young people on numerous topics including tobacco, alcohol, sex & relationships and drugs. Schools can then use this information as a framework for PHSE lessons whilst ticking all important Ofsted boxes. Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in Education and PSHE, Public Health, Social Marketing, Social Norms and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , .