Mental health literacy surveys
Partner organisations ran surveys in Germany, Serbia, Türkiye, and Bulgaria to better understand youth and youth-worker awareness around mental health literacy.
Completed · November 2025
Mental Health Literacy
About this exchange
Mental Health Literacy was an Erasmus+ KA220 cooperation partnership (project number 2023-2-DE04-KA220-YOU-000184980) coordinated by Highlights e.V. with Navissos (Serbia), YENGEC (Turkey), and Arteam (Bulgaria). The project period ran from April 2024 to November 2025 and focused on assessing mental health literacy needs, designing educational modules, training youth workers, and building accessible online resources.
In September 2024 the partnership conducted a survey among youth and youth workers in Germany, with related surveys carried out with partner organisations in Serbia, Türkiye, and Bulgaria. Activities also included an international youth worker training course in Bodrum, Türkiye, and dissemination of educational materials. Selected durable survey outputs and third-party working materials are linked under Project Resources.
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OBJECTIVES
What we set out to achieve
- Assess current mental health literacy levels and identify gaps for improvement
- Design an innovative educational programme tailored for youth workers and young people
- Strengthen youth workers’ competencies through specialised mental health literacy training
- Develop an inclusive online resource hub with curated tools and best practices
- Improve the quality and relevance of mental health activities in youth organisations
- Strengthen transnational collaboration and exchange of practice
ACTIVITIES
Planned activities
Assessment and analysis
Partners assessed mental health literacy needs among youth and youth workers, including a September 2024 survey in Germany and related surveys with partners in Serbia, Türkiye, and Bulgaria.
Educational programme development
The partnership developed a structured Mental Health Literacy educational programme covering themes such as mental health versus illness, stigma, early intervention, depression, stress and anxiety, technology and digital wellness, and daily resilience habits, using interactive learning, reflection, peer discussion, and digital tools.
Youth worker training course in Türkiye
An international training course opened on 2 April at BDK Youth Culture and Art Centre in Bodrum, Türkiye, bringing youth workers from Germany, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Turkey together to strengthen mental health literacy practice and revise programme content for youth language, mobile access, and downloadable materials.
Online educational resources
Partners created and shared digital resources to support wider use of the programme beyond face-to-face training, including work toward an MHL handbook for youth workers, educators, and young adults.
KEY RESULTS
What we aimed for
Comprehensive survey report
A comparative analysis report gathered insights on mental health literacy from Germany, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Türkiye.
Educational programme
A structured Mental Health Literacy educational programme was developed for youth workers and young people, spanning awareness, stigma, early intervention, common conditions, digital wellness, and resilience habits.
International training course
Youth workers from four countries collaborated in Bodrum to strengthen competencies and refine workshop modules for local delivery.
Online resource hub
The partnership worked toward an accessible digital platform offering curated tools and practices for youth workers.
Stronger transnational cooperation
Collaboration among organisations in Germany, Bulgaria, Türkiye, and Serbia supported shared learning on youth mental health.
PROJECT RESOURCES
Resources & outputs
- Report
Comprehensive survey report
Mental health literacy in Europe — comparative insights from Germany, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Türkiye (October 2024).
- Research
Survey insights (Canva)
Public summary presentation of Mental Health Literacy survey findings.
Resource Educational programme overview
Curriculum themes and methods for the Mental Health Literacy educational programme are summarised in Activities and Key Results. No separate durable public handbook download URL was published on the legacy post.
- Resource
Youth worker training working document
Shared working document used during the Bodrum youth worker training course (Google Docs).
Photo gallery
Delivered with
- Navissos — Serbia
- YENGEC — Turkey
- Arteam — Bulgaria
LEARNING
Learning areas
- Mental health literacy awareness
- Youth worker professional development
- Non-formal education design
- Transnational collaboration
