Assignment 1B

What is the title of your project/ social enterprise/venture?
Working Together for Healthier Minds

What is the main goal of your project?
To promote healthier state of minds by working with youth who are suffering from mental health issues while educating the public on the importance of mental wellness to reduce the stigma that youth experiencing depression ages 18 to 30 faces in Toronto, Canada.

Describe the magnitude of the problem you aim to address
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, the magnitude of depression is quite significant since at one point in an adult’s life, around 8% of adults will experience some sort of major depression yet 49% of those who suffered from depression or anxiety have never gone to see a doctor to address this issue. This issue also has a large negative magnitude impact economically speaking since an additional $6.3 billion was expended on uninsured mental health services and time off work for those who suffered from depression yet did not get treated by the health care system.

Describe what will be different in your community as a result of your project. Be specific and answer this in no more than 2 sentences. This is the aim of your project.
Patients experiencing a mental health issue like depression will have the opportunity to comfortably express themselves and participate in activities that will aid in improving their mental well-being. In addition, the project will educate the public about depression to eliminate the stigma that some people often associate with mental health.

Using the ‘who, what, why, where when, how’ questions presented earlier in this module write a background summary for the project. The purpose of the background summary is to clearly and briefly identify the key facts and issues related to the problems that your project aims to address.
WHO - The project is aimed towards working with adult youths between the ages of 18 to 30 because depression tends to develop when a person is around mid-20 yet this mental health condition can occur at any age.
WHAT - The project will focus on youth who are interested in promoting a healthier mental health to work with youth who are suffering from depression to implement organized activities such as an event booth on mental wellness week at certain very visible areas of the cities or small campaigns and educational resources such as brochures and pamphlets to educate the public about mental wellness in a comfortable setting.
WHY - When youth who are interested in promoting a healthier mental health are working with youth who are suffering from depression, this will decrease the level of depression youth who are experiencing depression because there are studies that have indicated that one major contributor to reducing depression is to socialize so that a support system can be built with those who are of similar age. The youth who are interested in promoting a healthier mental health but are not experiencing any symptoms of depression can assist youth who are depress engage in different community events that will help improve their mental health condition while those who are also suffering from depression can share their experiences with others in an environment where they know it is a safe and they won’t be judged since there are some youth whom may have gone through similar experiences and may be able to further assist them. By meeting on a weekly basis to implement brochures about mental health for the public where they will set up booth activities at visible locations to educate the public, this is a great activity to promote team work and create a stronger bond between the youth while at the same time, they are working toward reducing the stigma that some people may impose on depression that may not be true. As a result, they are helping other individuals who are suffering from both depression and stigma imposed on individuals.
WHERE - The youth will meet on a weekly basis at a youth centre in Toronto in Canada that will be booked in the evening each week after business hours so that the youth who are experiencing depression can go there comfortably without the fear that someone may identify that they are undergoing depression.
WHEN - The group would meet at least once a week on a weekly basis. When major events approach, more meetings may be necessary.
HOW - Experts in the field of mental health will be contacted to determine what information should be put on the educational resources while members of the community need to be contacted for a youth centre to meet, which mental wellness events in the community would be able to provide us a space to educate the public about mental health and identifying mental health agencies that will be able to assist us in recruiting youth volunteers who are interested in reducing depression and recruiting youth who are experiencing depression.

Now write your objectives using the SMART technique. Explain how each objective will help you to achieve the aim of your project.
1. Objective: The youths will work together to produce 3 different educational resources in the form of a brochure, booklet, or website with the help of experts from mental health agencies in the Toronto area.
How the objective will help achieve the aim of your project: The resources will help reduce the stigma of the public on depression, help certain individuals who are unsure if they have depression or not identify their mental health state, and to provide resources as to where one can get help if needed.

2. Objective: The educational resources will be distributed widely at a minimum of two organized mental health events per year and made available online at their website.
How the objective will help achieve the aim of your project: This improves the exposure of mental health resources access.

3. Objective: The number of visitors at the website will be increased by 5% each year and the number of educational resources distributed will increase by 5% each year as well.
How the objective will help achieve the aim of your project: This will assist us to measure the progress of our project based on the statistics collected from the number of visitors and resources that have generated interest from the public.

Good Project Managers will identify challenges and risks to the success of the project from the beginning and throughout the project cycle. Describe the challenges and risks you face in achieving your project aim.
1. It may be hard to identify youth who are suffering from depression since it will not be easy for them to admit that they have a mental illness
2. It may be a challenge to find a youth centre who would be willing to provide the space for possibly free since youth centre often do not have a lot of money to begin with
3. Another challenge would be to get people to visit the website created or to get them to approach a booth that tries to reduce the stigma of depression when they already have certain views on people with mental illnesses