School, climate, the future. There are many things that can weigh heavily on young people today, and according to statistics, mental illness has increased dramatically both in Sweden and worldwide over the past 10 years! Må Bäst (Feel Your Best) aims to promote mental health among young people. The project is driven by KFUM Central but the work spreads beyond our own organization with the help of partners including the national organization KFUM Sweden.
The project was developed by young people at KFUM Central Young people in the KFUM Central association noticed the negative trend regarding young people’s mental wellbeing and wanted the association to do more to help young people feel better. A project idea took shape and 5 million kronor was granted by the Heritage Fund to Må Bäst! in October 2021.
What does Må Bäst! do The project works to destigmatize conversations about mental health, increase knowledge, and promote young people’s psychological wellbeing. Må Bäst! represents a progressive way to approach the issue of young people’s mental health. By combining scientific knowledge with practical tools and young people’s own perspectives, the project creates conditions for a healthier and more open conversational climate around mental health.
The guiding principles of the project’s approach are implementability, sustainability, and participation. This means that the work that Må Bäst! does during the project period should be implemented in regular operations, remain after the project is over, and that the target group of young people should be involved in influencing how and what we do.
Project goals and purpose Må Bäst! aims to promote mental health among young people by:
- Raising knowledge about the topic of mental health
- Destigmatizing conversations about mental health
- Giving young people understanding and knowledge about what we need to feel good
- Strengthening association leaders’ ability to work with mental health
The project is based on the premise that one’s mental health is changeable and that everyone can and should systematize their wellbeing.
We offer:
- Lectures/workshops with a clear focus – to raise knowledge about mental health with a promoting perspective at the center. Instead of just noting that young people feel bad, we focus on the solution: how do we go about feeling good?
- Conversation cards which are a tool for conveying knowledge and creating group discussions based on themes of promoting factors and norms/culture.
- Book about mental health – the book ”What is it that feels” is aimed at those who want to learn about mental health in an accessible way. The content is based on the target group of young people but can be read by everyone.
