Salud a la Salud Mental (A Toast to Mental Health)

Joven Noble is a youth-development and leadership enhancement curriculum within Sequoia High School in Watsonville, Ca. that recognizes adolescents need for guidance during their physical, emotional and spiritual development into adulthood by engaging them in conversations regarding topics such as teen pregnancy and substance abuse. One of the deficits of the program is the lack of discussion centered around mental health. Youth are more likely to experience mental health challenges during their adolescence that can impair their long term development. In Santa Cruz County, 5 per 1,000 children ages 5-19 were hospitalized for mental health crisis treatment in 2016; rates were nearly twice as high among those children ages 15-19. This capstone was implemented as an educational workshop aimed to increase the likelihood of youth accessing services or stress reduction skills by providing them the tools if needs arise. As a result of the presentation youth are likelier to use coping skills, have lower negative stigma associated with mental illness and increased investment in their mental health. Half of the participants reported they would be likely to seek services if they were in crisis while the other half did not. The project met its intended outcome and would benefit from replication