Youth Aware of Mental Health Program for Year 9
June 2, 2023The ACT Health Directorate in partnership with ACT Education is implementing the Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) program throughout ACT secondary schools to Year 9 students from 2020 to 2023.
The program was piloted in Term 1 2020 to four schools, and as of January 2023, 20 ACT schools, 41 cohorts of Year 9 and over 6000 students have already completed the program. The program is also supported by Catholic Education and the Association of Independent Schools of the ACT, who have participated in the ACT Schools Working Group Committee Meetings.
The YAM program is an evidenced-based program developed to promote mental health and address suicidal behaviour, and is renowned for its flexibility to be integrated into the school environment. YAM is a program aimed at addressing the mental health needs of young people and involves discussion and role play. It aims to get young people involved and talking about mental health. By doing this, young people will learn problem solving skills and gain knowledge about mental health; build resilience; and promote early intervention and help seeking behaviours.
Mental Illness Education ACT (MIEACT) is the service provider for the YAM program in the ACT and will be coordinating the implementation of the YAM program across all ACT schools. MIEACT will be working in close partnership with the Office of Mental Health and Wellbeing, and ACT Education to deliver high quality mental health education outcomes. For further information about the program please go to the Office of Mental Health and Wellbeing YAM Webpage at:
The program will run over three weeks with each student participating in five sessions. Two sessions will run during class time on 6 June, followed by another two sessions on 13 June and a final session on June 13.
If you have any questions, please contact the Year 9 Coordinator Luke Potter luke.potter@sfx.act.edu.au