A NEW website co-designed by the young people of Clare, has been credited with helping children and parents to access mental health supports in the county. Such has been the success of the Heads Up website, a Ukrainian version is now being developed to help young people who have arrived in Clare after fleeing their war-torn country.
Heads Up Clare (headsupclare.ie) was developed by the Clare branch of CYPSC (Children & Young Persons Services Committee) and was co-designed by Comhairle na nÓg in Clare. Funded by the Healthy Ireland resilience fund, the website is dedicated to signposting young people and parents in Clare to mental health support services in the area.
Sinéad Collopy, the CYPSC coordinator for County Clare, tells The Clare Echo that there is a notable deficit in community based mental health supports in Clare. In neighbouring counties such as Limerick, Galway and Tipperary, a Jigsaw service exists which offers advice and support to young people aged 12–25 years-old.
The CYPSC is an interagency structure which identifies the needs of children and young people across Co Clare. Sinéad, who is employed by TUSLA, explains that community-based youth mental health services are crucial for young people who don’t meet the threshold for HSE support. CYPSC have recently commissioned a report on young people in Clare in accessing mental health services and part of that report will form a business case that will be presented to the Department of Health next year, advocating for a community-based youth mental health service for the county.
However, while the organisation recognises this absence in Clare and is making strides to rectify this situation, Sinéad explains that the Heads Up website has been developed in a bid to help guide people in reaching the services that currently are available in Clare to support young people struggling with various mental health issues.
“We wanted to build a website that was very dedicated to County Clare,” says Sinéad. “When we looked at mental health support websites for young people, the national ones give very good tips but the signposting to other services tends to be all national or regional, we wanted a Clare based site that signposted a young person to other supports in their community.
“So, while they may not have a community based mental health services, they may be aware that there’s a family resource centre in their area that is doing youth-based work, there’s a youth service in their area, there’s a club. So that’s what the website is.”
The website also contains an advice section for parents and an animated character which talks visitors through the different sections. “We have an extensive library on the site which goes through different issues like bullying, depression, sexual health and identity, it all impacts on our mental health. It’s a virtual directory but also there’s tips on how to keep yourself healthy and there are tips for parents. Young people have interacted really well with it.”
CYPSC have been contacted by organisations to inform them that young people found their service after visiting the Heads Up Clare website and Sinéad adds, “it’s really important that it’s actually reached the target audience”.
Visitors can filter the website by area, whether you’re a parent or a young person, what age you are, location, and what issue you are looking for information and support on, before the site automatically directs you to a page with the relevant resources in your local community. “The beauty of Heads Up Clare is that it’s filtered by your age and area so you get the information easier.”
She adds, “We’ve gotten funding this year so we’re going to translate Heads Up Clare into a Ukrainian version. It will be the exact same site but it will be translated into Ukrainian and the voiceover will be done in Ukrainian because we are very aware of the high number of Ukrainian young people in our county who may be experiencing huge challenges at the moment.”
She notes the impact Covid 19 has had on young with increased levels of isolation and anxiety caused by schools closing during the pandemic. “We know that has had a knock-on effect of what we’re seeing now, that post-Covid anxiety. There will always be a need for a statutory mental health service but we feel a lot of young people can be dealt with in a community service as well. The statutory services are in place for the higher-level need, what we need to do from a community perspective is early intervention so they won’t need that higher-level service, that’s really where the CYPSC is looking at.”
To visit Heads Up Clare, go to www.headsupclare.ie or for more information on CYPSC, visit https://www.cypsc.ie/.
