Youth-led mental health promotion in Pakistan informed by intergenerational resilience.

Abstract

Interventions informed by intergenerational resilience have shown positive effects on youth mental health. In Majority World countries, however, mental health promotion remains constrained by stigmatizing beliefs and limited resources. This study explored multiple stakeholder perspectives of how intergenerational learning was incorporated in youth-led mental health promotion in Pakistan. Fourteen youth peer educators co-designed a mental health promotion programme with family advisers and facilitated 11 workshops in two disadvantaged areas of Karachi. Of the 304 workshops participants, a sub-sample of 63 youth, mothers, teachers and peer educators attended 11 focus groups. Established themes related to the process that enabled intergenerational learning, notably participatory activities, and how such learning could be transferred to resilience-enabling systems by mobilizing communities. A multidimensional resilience framework that draws upon intergenerational experiences can usefully inform youth mental health promotion, especially in resource-constrained settings. Co-production with holders of local knowledge can engage and empower communities.