Youth Aware of Mental health, also known as YAM, is a school-based program for young people ages 13 to 17, in which they learn about and explore the topic of mental health. YAM is an evidence-based program taking place in classrooms around the world. Students actively engage with the topic of mental health through role-play and student-led discussions.
YAM has been conducted with more than 85,000 teenagers in 16 countries, and more than 800 people have been trained as YAM Instructors worldwide.
By creating space for inclusive and youth-led dialogue about mental health, YAM helps grow solidarity among young people and promote positive mental health practises.
Click here to learn more about how to bring YAM to your area
Click here to view and download an info sheet about YAM
YAM is evidence based
YAM was evaluated in EU-wide Randomized Controlled Trial in which more than 11,000 youth participated. The Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE) research project sought to evaluate three school-based interventions for mental health promotion and suicide prevention. Results found YAM effective in reducing new cases of suicide attempts and severe suicidal ideation by approximately 50%. New cases of depression were reduced by approximately 30% in the youth participating in YAM.
Numerous additional research studies have been conducted about YAM, including a 2018 study about YAM, and a 2019 study about YAM in the United States.
YAM is dialogue and play
In YAM, youth are invited to role-play and discuss everyday situations that are important to them. The topics range from relationships with peers and adults to changes in mood, feeling sad, or facing a stressful situation. As a group, the students reflect on how they might feel if faced by such events and discuss how to handle challenging real-life situations.
In five one-hour classroom sessions over three weeks, mental health is explored through discussion and role-plays departing from pedagogical materials that include slides, posters, and a booklet for each young person to keep. Emphasis is placed on peer support and information is given on how and where to find professional help if needed.
YAM is youth driven
In YAM, youth voices take center stage. Young people are listened to and their experiences are valued and inform the exercises. The adults present do not instruct them on how to think, feel, and act. Instead, with the support of the instructor, everyone present works to understand different perspectives and come up with possible solutions to problems.
In YAM, we recognise and appreciate that each participant brings with them their own life experience and we believe that we can learn a lot by inviting difference in opinion. Our focus is not on finding one-size-fits-all solutions to mental health. Instead, we consider how different people feel, the possible reasons for their actions, and what kinds of support they might need in each situation.
YAM is worldwide
YAM was created to be adaptable to serve youth worldwide. By relying on each group of participating youth to bring up topics that are important and relevant to them, the program aims to be as relevant to youth in rural India or the USA as it is to young people in urban parts of Sweden and Australia. Whenever we do YAM in a new country or cultural context, we work with local youth and youth professionals to make sure that the program stays appropriate and sensitive to local needs.
There are currently active YAM sites in Australia, Germany, India, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. YAM has also been done in Austria, Estonia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain.
Who are the YAM adults?
Two trained adults conduct every YAM program. One of these adults has completed an intensive week-long certification before becoming a YAM Instructor, and the other has completed a shorter training to act as a support in the classroom. All YAM Instructors have prior experience working with groups of youth. If a young person shows signs of psychological distress, the YAM Instructor will speak with them and make sure that they receive appropriate support.
The YAM Instructors work to create a safe environment by valuing and treating the youth as experts on their mental health. This is something that young people tell us they appreciate about YAM.
Benefits of YAM
YAM invites young people to reflect on their emotions and to consider different approaches when faced with life challenges or mental health concerns. By participating in an inclusive and youth-led dialogue about mental health, we have observed that YAM helps grow solidarity among young people.
Participation in YAM has long-term benefits. After YAM, young people often tell us that they feel more confident in supporting a friend in need. In interviews with young people who participated in YAM, they point to strategies they learned in YAM later used in difficult real-life situations. Perhaps most importantly, these youth recognise the need for support as they encounter life challenges. To meet this need, YAM shares local information about physical and mental health care options as well as youth-serving organisations in their communities with them.