Reflecting on Progress: The Mid-Project Milestone for Let’s Talk About Children
It’s time for reflection at Let’s Talk About Children.
The project consortium met in Milan, on the 12th and 13th of June to look back at the first 18 months of work, sharing stories of success, challenges and common learnings. It felt exciting to meet in person for the second time, almost one year and a half after the kick-off meeting held in Helsinki in February 2023. Now, halfway through the process, we took time to reflect upon what makes Let’s Talk About Children a crucial practice in the framework of the mental health of children and their families.
Overcoming Challenges: Enthusiastic Trainers and Cultural Adaptation in Let’s Talk
All partners agreed on one thing: enthusiastic trainers are the key to the project. In order for Let’s Talk to succeed, we need to invest in those trainers who not only believe in the project but see its potential long-term. Passion and enthusiasm proved to go a long way when dealing with busy schedules and the limited resources of potential stakeholders.
The project has had many inspiring moments. In Italy, the kick-off event in Milan in September 2023 featured children’s drawings, showing how children were involved as active, creative and valuable examples to learn from. The Greek team exemplarily took the time to reflect on cultural differences and adapt the method to their specific national contexts: finding the right way to reduce stigma and promote openness helps families feel listened to and included in the process. Portugal decided to strongly invest in their media outreach: they published multiple opinion articles in the national press, brought the Let’s Talk project to television and organised their first roundtable during European Mental Health Week in May 2024, showcasing the importance of strategic visibility.
It was impressive to witness how all partners have been able to adapt the method to their own specific circumstances and to tailor it to the needs of families and professionals. We were not short of common challenges, such as prejudice from both medical professionals and families, but the Let’s Talk national teams have been able to overcome obstacles and bring positive results to this mid-term meetings.
Looking ahead: long-terms sustainability and scalability
Listening to others’ stories helps feeling less lonely navigating the sometimes-challenging health and educational system, as we try to bring about systemic change to promote positive mental health for children and their families. Partners from all over Europe talked about the excellent feedback from trainers and practitioners: the LTC method proved to be not only useful but also potentially beneficial to multiple sectors – inviting its sustainability and scalability long-term. Challenges are faced head-on and seeking help among the consortium partners and the knowledge and experience of our Advisory Board.
The meeting in Milan strengthened the already highly-motivated consortium, making Let’s Talk About Children sailing towards the second half of the project at full speed.