Five NGO winners of “Healthy Generation” competition
05.05.2017
A range of preventative programmes to address mental health issues affecting children and adolescents have been evaluated by a panel of experts as part of the latest annual “Healthy Generation” competition, organised by the Russian Union for the Protection of Mental Health.
Project applications were invited for three separate areas: preventing non-chemical dependency; promotion of good mental health through educational and information activities and preventative programmes for children and adolescents to be implemented by people of an older generation. Projects submitted by NGOs from Moscow, Cherepovets and Stavropol were judged by the expert panel to be the best of the more than 1,000 applications received.
The successful NGOs in the competition were the “Way Home” (Cherepovets) charity; the Society for Educational and Creative Leisure’s “Games of the Future” (Moscow); the Centre for Socio-Psychological and Information Support’s “Families and Psychological Health” (Moscow); the All-Russian Federation of Sports for the Mentally Ill, and the Association of Psychiatrists, Psychotherapists, Clinical Psychologists and Social Workers (Stavropol).
State and municipal institutions in the fields of science and education, culture and the Arts, physical culture, sports, and public social protection also took part in the competition. Among the list of winners was the Saratov State Academy of Law. The expert panel also recognised projects from schools from the Republics of Khakassia and Buryatia, as well as from Ulyanovsk, Vologda and Rostov oblasts. The House of Taymyr Folk Art and the “Polistovsky” State Nature Reserve (Bezhanitsky and Pskov districts) also received awards.
Statistics have shown an increase in recent years in the instances of mental disorders among children and adolescents. According to figures from the World Health Organisation, those affected equates to around 20% of their total number. A study carried out by the Institute of the Human Brain at the National Academy of Sciences revealed that 15% of children, 25% of adolescents and around 40% of army conscripts in Russia suffer from mental health problems.
The mental well-being of children is chiefly the responsibility of adults, which is why activities and programmes are undertaken and developed each year to address this serious issue.
Source: https://www.asi.org.ru/news/2017/05/05/zdorovoe-pokolenie-konkurs/