The HPYP project carried out a comparative assessment of prison environments hosting juvenile offenders in seven EU Member States and, based on a participatory approach, developed and piloted a toolkit for advancing health provides guidelines to psychologists, facilitators and social workers about how to address and raise awareness about health issues. The topics addressed range from regular sports to informative sessions about substance and drug use, sexuality, infectious disease, as well as relationships, healthy nutrition, hygiene, physical and mental health and well-being.
Contact person:
Caren Weilandt
Address:
Ubierstr. 78
53173 Bonn
Germany
Telephone number:
+49 22 8810 4140
E-mail:
Key population:
Lead Partner:
WIAD - Wissenschaftliches Institut der Ärzte Deutschlands gem. e.V.
Associated Partners:
1. Birmingham City University (UK), 2. Association of Verna Organizations for Drug Prevention (Bulgaria), 3. Convictus Eesti (estonia), 4. Latvia's Association for Family Planning and Sexual Health (Latvia), 5. Charles University of Prague (Czech Republic), 6. Association of Schools of Social Work in Romania ( Romania)
Project objectives:
Against the above background, the overall aim of the HPYP project was to develop and improve health promotion for young people in custody. More specifically, its objective was to develop a toolkit with a set of best-practices to help increase the knowledge of juvenile offenders about various health issues and dimensions. In the framework of HPYP, health promotion includes any and all activities, programs and initiatives aiming to raise awareness and to develop skills for preventing and promoting physical, emotional, mental and social health. This includes a wide range of measures from regular sports to informative sessions about sexuality, alcohol, tobacco, and drug use, training in dental and oral hygiene, interventions regarding mental health needs, self-harm and suicide as well as training on conflict management.
Duration of Project:
01.04.2010 - 31.03.2013
Methods Used:
In terms of methods, the HPYP project adopted a participatory approach. The views of juvenile offenders on relevant topics regarding health pro-motion were surveyed by means of standardized questionnaires. The survey was followed by focus groups that discussed and elaborated the findings. A total of 571 young prisoners across 38 prisons participated at the survey; of these 223 took part in 24 focus groups. In addition, 228 prison staff and NGO representatives were interviewed face-to-face using open questions. The survey, focus groups and expert interviews were carried out in Germany, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Romania. A UK team contributed to the project secondary analysis of existing national data.