Project overview
For many young people, Covid-19 had a negative effect on their mental health. Many reported high rates of anxiety or low mood – even higher than before Covid-19, according to some studies.
There was lots of information about effective ways to cope with these emotions but not all of it was accessible for young people.
The Keep Cool project wanted to share this information with as many young people as possible, in an effective and engaging way.
As part of this, three short films have been produced on anxiety, sadness and anger.
Members of the Young Person’s Advisory Group (YPAG) also created some images to go with them.
Project details
It is vital young people have access to good quality information that is relevant to their own mental health and wellbeing, especially at a time of increased mental health difficulties for many.
Young people need to have a voice in how this project is done so that the outcomes are as relevant and useful as possible for the target audience. They will be involved in key decisions throughout the project and will interact with researchers, clinicians, and creative partners.
This project did three things:
- Reflecting on the research about young people’s mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic and what advice there is for people with increased mental health issues now
- Discussing with young people which topics they need to know more about. This will include working out what they need to know to be able to help themselves.
- Working with young people to co-produce animation and video resources that disseminate accurate information about young people’s mental health in the most engaging way possible.
Young people, aged 14-25, were actively involved in designing the video content for this project. Over 15 young people teamed up with McPin staff, researchers from KCL, and creative professionals from TOAD and Passion Digital, to do this.
McPin was involved in:
- Discussing and prioritising what information needs to be shared
- Running workshops with young people about the content and how to disseminate it in a way that is engaging and accessible for other young people
- Involving young people between workshops in the project activities
They also created images to go with the videos:
We worked with TOAD and KCL to produce three resources for the project – short films focusing on anxiety, sadness and anger.
The design, script and content was shaped directly by the McPin young people’s group.
For more information about the project, visit the KCL webpage: kcl.ac.uk/research/keepcool
For more information about the involvement work please email [email protected].
You can also read a blog from a Keep Cool YPAG member on his experiences with anger after a diagnosis, and how he has managed to cope with the emotion.
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