Social Finance | Participatory research exploring Jewish children and young people’s mental health

As part of a project aiming to promote wellbeing, Humanly was commissioned to conduct a rapid 6-week participatory research project exploring mental health with Jewish children and young people and parents.

Humanly worked closely with Social Finance and key stakeholders from the Jewish community and voluntary sector to develop refined learning questions and themes for the research, which focused on:

• How young people and parents talk about mental health and the language they use

• What young people and parents see as the most important factors contributing to good and poor mental health 

• How, where and when young people and parents seek help when experiencing mental health difficulties themselves, or for someone they know

The Process

Humanly took a highly creative approach to this research, developing a toolkit of bespoke methods to explore this sensitive topic in a safe, inclusive and engaging way. 

A range of creative activities were designed to be enjoyable for children and young people, while generating useful insight and ensuring that the research aims were met. Research sessions were tailored to the age, abilities, needs and preferences of the children and young people who took part, with participants given the freedom to choose from a range of activities:

Feelings wall

This extremely insightful and popular activity involved building a wall using foam bricks, and inviting the child or young person to attach sticky notes describing things that make them feel sad, angry or frustrated. The child or young person was then invited to knock the wall down before it was rebuilt, adding sticky notes that described things that made the child or young person feel happy, calm or relaxed.

Visual prompt boards

Visual prompt boards were created to guide open conversations led by participants, enabling the Humanly team to uncover the language that children and young people use around mental health.

Storyboards

Children and young people were given the opportunity to develop a character and fictional story based around a theme of their choice, for example bullying or the character feeling like they don’t fit in. Prompt questions were used to explore the research themes, for example asking how the character would feel and where they would go for help.

Card sorting 

Card sorting was used to explore big, medium and small concerns or worries, using known factors, such as exam pressures, as well as factors generated by children and young people during the activity. This was repeated with a new set of cards representing factors contributing to good mental health, with participants being asked to sort these by how helpful they find these, and what else enables them to maintain good mental health. 

Alongside research with children and young people, Humanly heard from a wide range of parents and carers through a series of interviews and group discussions.

The results were synthesised into a set of key insights which were presented to stakeholders from Social Finance and the Jewish community and voluntary sector for feedback and discussion around next steps.

The Outcomes

Humanly delivered this project at pace, whilst ensuring that safeguarding and ethics were a priority throughout.

The Humanly team were able to complete this project in just 6 weeks including designing, running, analysing and presenting the research. During the project Humanly worked closely with the schools and services involved, to ensure meaningful consent and safe and supportive experiences for children and young people.

Humanly enabled the participation of 22 children and young people with a diverse range of ages, needs and experiences, and 9 parents and carers, in this important work.

Despite the tight timeframe Humanly was able to involve over 30 participants in London, Leeds and Greater Manchester. This included children and young people between the ages of 8 and 21 with a wide range of experiences, including children and young people who identify as LGBTQIA+ and children and young people who identify as disabled.

Actionable insights were generated that will inform future service development to support children and young people’s wellbeing.

New insights emerged around perceived protective factors and triggers in relation to mental health, both from the perspective of children and young people and from a parent’s perspective, and including nuances specific to the Jewish community.

Additionally valuable insights were gained around the language used by children, young people and parents when talking about mental health, where young people go when they need help, and what is currently working well regarding supporting the mental health of Jewish children and young people.

The Impact

Humanly’s approach to this project was commended by stakeholders, not only for the new insights generated, but also for the way in which the Humanly team were able to work with children and young people within a short period of time. 

The approach taken was found to be fun, meaningful and rewarding for the children and young people who took part. Moreover, these were found to have wider applicability, with some of the services involved going on to adopt Humanly’s approaches for supporting children and young people to talk about emotions, as they were proven to be both successful and enjoyable for children and young people.   

‘It was extremely insightful and really useful to see the findings. I think that you have all conducted this work so carefully and everything was clearly thought out. I think it was wonderful the children and teenagers were able to open up even in one session.’

- Director of a Jewish community service

‘We have had the most wonderful feedback from every single young person involved. The children told me they would love to do it all again and we have already been inspired to buy some new resources for our wellbeing space.’

- CEO of a Jewish community service

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