Assessment of Mental Health of Refugees and Asylum seekers by Youth Workers (AMORAY) Erasmus Project

Project Title

Assessment of Mental Health of Refugees and Asylum seekers by Youth Workers (AMORAY)

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Migrants’ issues; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Health and wellbeing

Project Summary

The reality of youth work has been increasingly more demanding, requiring more specialized competencies, reflective capacity and emotional resilience. Traditionally, youth workers (YW) have been providing psychosocial support activities. However, socio-political events, such as the recent refugee crisis, and the limited capacity of national mental health services to care for such vulnerable people, have profoundly changed the requirements of youth work.

Most migrants who arrive in the EU are aged between 14 and 30. The Young Migrants, Refugees and Asylum seekers (YMRA) have been exposed to traumatizing experiences before and during migration and continue to suffer from the hardships and anxiety of settling under difficult conditions in the host countries. As a result, these young people are vulnerable to psychological disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Some present high-risk for self-harming and suicide and aggressive behaviour problems. Linguistic and cultural barriers prevent access to available mental health support, leading to incomplete assessments and failed treatment alliances.

YW are at the forefront of care, empowerment, and psychological support provided to YMRA. YW are expected to contribute to diagnosis and care planning along mental health professionals. They also need to plan what is the most appropriate psychosocial intervention, given the mental health state of YMRA, in combination with their developmental stage, their gender and their ethnic background. In view of these conditions, YW need to enhance their mental health assessment skills and engage confidently with mental health professionals. At the same time, they need to be mindful of their own wellbeing since the new conditions make them vulnerable to secondary trauma and burnout.

AMORAY (Assessment of Mental Health of Refugees and Asylum seekers by Youth Workers) proposes a training and development program for YW, aiming to recognize their role in the mental health provision to YMRA. Based on a needs analysis at the beginning of the project, the partnership will develop the ‘Training Curriculum for mental health assessment of refugee and asylum seekers by Youth Workers’, following the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET) and ensuring that the training can lead to a vocational certification at EU level. The curriculum will set the groundwork for developing the content of the training. The AMORAY platform will provide access to the training content, introduce a communication forum, and a gateway to relevant psychoeducation material.

In the second part of the 2-year project, 100 youth workers will be trained and 500 YMRA will benefit from mental health assessments and tailored psychosocial interventions. The implementation pilot will take place in the UK, Greece, France, and Spain. At least 1000 YW will be informed through dissemination activities. The beneficiaries will be primarily YW who provide care to YMRA (aged 16 to 25) in the EU.

AMORAY aspires to make a significant impact.
Firstly, it is expected to improve the position and the competencies of YW by
– expanding their knowledge about the mental health of YMRA;
– developing their reflective capacity, confidence, and resilience;
– promoting self-care strategies and reduce probability of burnout;
– improve cultural competences.

Secondly, it aims to improve the position and the experience of YMRA through
– augmenting the experience of YMRA in working with YW;
– improving access to mental health treatments and reduction in self harm;
– increasing their well-being and hence their chances to find a job and integrate in the host community

Thirdly, it is anticipated that the AMORAY methodology will help Youth Organisations to
– upgrade their quality of services and provide more effective and efficient psychosocial interventions;
– establish a more productive collaboration with other services providers in the field of welcoming and caring for YMRA;
– become familiar with participatory user-led design methodology leading to a solid experience of developing innovative services.

The partnership is comprised by organizations that have extensive expertise in their domains and converge in their field of:
– training in mental health assessment and psychological therapies (the Metanoia Institute- UK),
– youth work and improving access to mental health and other support serviced for vulnerable young people (Youth Access)
– vulnerable young people’s Mental Health including YMRA (IASIS-GR)
– integration of YMRA through social and cultural intervention (LaBIenPaga, ES)
– vocational training and social work (Institute for Training and Research in Social Work, Social Medicine and Health – FR)

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 214604 Eur

Project Coordinator

Metanoia Institute & Country: UK

Project Partners

• IASIS
• INSTITUT CORSE DE FORMATION ET RECHERCHE EN TRAVAIL SOCIAL
• Asociación La Bien Pagá Espacio Escénico
• British Refugee Council