MENTAL HEALTH

Grassroot Soccer is leveraging the power of soccer to equip young people with the support and skills for improved mental health throughout adolescence and into adulthood.

The Challenge

Poor mental health is the most critical health issue facing young people globally, with 1 in 4 young people experiencing a mental health condition. Mental health is integral to adolescents’ overall health outcomes and affects other acute health issues, including sexual and reproductive health (SRH), gender-based violence, and HIV. The outlook for young people in sub-Saharan Africa is even worse. The region has a higher prevalence of mental health conditions yet fewer resources for mental health care than other parts of the world. The result is that more than 90% of young people in need of mental health services will never receive them.

Adolescence represents the key window of opportunity to promote good mental health and treat disease, with 75% of adult mental health conditions surfacing by age 24. If left untreated, these conditions will get worse as they progress into adulthood and lead to more severe consequences.

Grassroot Soccer’s Mental Health Solution

Grassroot Soccer is working to improve the mental health and well-being of young people in communities at heightened risk of poor mental health and with limited access to information and services. Grassroot Soccer’s model, based on input from world-leading mental health professionals and over 20 years of experience working with adolescents, improves young people’s mental health and well-being through a resilient mind, healthy body, and strong support network.

Resilient Mind

Grassroot Soccer programs equip young people with skills and knowledge to manage their thoughts, feelings, emotions, and behaviors. This helps participants develop a resilient mind, which is especially important during adolescence, a time of profound social, emotional, and physical change that can be stressful to navigate.

Healthy Body

Mental and physical health are closely interconnected. For example, mental health challenges can negatively affect sleep and nutrition, and vice versa. Grassroot Soccer programs take a holistic approach to adolescent health, equipping participants with critical knowledge to maintain a healthy body to fuel a healthy mind.

Strong Support Network

By providing young people with a mentor Coach and a cohort of peers in a safe environment, Grassroot Soccer helps participants build a strong support network that is there for them when challenges arise. Not only that, when young people learn about mental health concepts and skills, they can use that knowledge to become a key support for others in their life as well.

Grassroot Soccer’s mental health programming is aligned with the WHO’s Intervention Pyramid for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support.

We’ve developed programs that address a broad range of mental health needs among adolescents.

Grassroot Soccer integrates basic mental health promotion content into its foundational adolescent health programs (SKILLZ), and is also engaging youth through MindSKILLZ, our signature adolescent mental health promotion program. MindSKILLZ targets key determinants of positive mental health through simple strategies based on global evidence and Grassroot Soccer’s own research.

The MindSKILLZ package of resources includes:

What participants and community members are saying:

For more information on Grassroot Soccer’s adolescent mental health work:

For partnership inquiries or to learn more, please contact: Chris Barkley, Technical Advisor, Mental Health, at cbarkley@grassrootsoccer.org.

Mental Health