P4 Skilled and socially inclusive region
4.1. More people benefiting from stronger Central Baltic communities
Southern Finland - Estonia
01.05.2015 - 30.04.2017
€269 068
€209 715
The project PAD aims at influencing public attitudes to become more positive towards young people suffering from mental health and social problems. The idea is to improve social inclusion of young people with mental problems, especially through better access to labour market, and decrease stigma concerning mental health problems.
The main activities will take place in two countries: in the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo in Finland and Tallinn, Haapsalu, Keila in Estonia. The project will organize face-to-face meetings with citizens and employers and educational trainings for professionals. The purpose of the activities is to develop the target group’s skills in interacting with their social environment. The project will launch a media campaign and an informative website to reach the public.
As a result of the project the employment possibilities for the young people with mental health problems are expected to improve, attitudes increase by 20% to become more positive among employers and citizens. A survey will be conducted in the end of the project to measure the impact. All in all, the project will support youth employment and decrease challenges concerning social exclusion.
Yrkeshögskolan Arcada Ab
Country: FI
Partner budget: 189.922 EUR
Amount of ERDF funding: 142.442 EUR ERDF
Tallinna Ulikool
Country: EE
Partner budget: 79.146 EUR
Amount of ERDF funding: 67.274 EUR ERDF
Achieved results
PAD - improved access to labour market
The main goal of the project was to find solutions to reduce social exclusion and stigma of youngsters and young adults with mental health problems, in order to increase their access to the labour market.
PAD contributed to the understanding of existing problems from the perspective of different stakeholders such as employers, companies and enterprises, target group members and different service providers.
In total, 8 members of the project target group managed to find work during the project time. In addition, project partners in both countries experienced a growing interest on behalf of companies and enterprises towards employment of people with mental health issues. Finnish examples of peer activism and the entrepreneurial opportunities inspired many Estonian target group members who participated in our project. This helped them to feel more empowered.
Approximately 100 persons participated in the project activities and thereby benefitted from the project. 10 student theses were written about the subject which help understand and solve such problems in the future.
- Empowering young people with mental health problems
- Raising awareness among employers and society
- Peer activities