On 29.02.2024 – 01.03.2024, the 9th edition of the Warsaw Health Promotion Days took place. This year’s edition of the event is held under the slogan “Mental Health and Innovations in Health Care”. The aim of the Conference was to draw attention to the need to strengthen actions to improve mental health in the population, also using innovative educational methods. During the debate we also discussed the conclusions of the HeadsUp project. We discussed the results of the report, as well as the guide, the comic and the campaign.
The event organized by the Student Scientific Circle of Public Health, operating under the Department of Public Health at the Warsaw Medical University (WUM), is an annual opportunity for students, public health experts, and interesting guests to meet. We were pleased to have been a patron of this conference and sincerely thank you for the invitation.
During the event, we had the opportunity to participate in the panel “PROPHYLAXIS – why is it worthwhile to act early?” Together with Anna Morawska-Borowiec from the Faces of Depression Foundation, Marlena Stradomska, PhD from the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Aleksandra Sienkiewicz from the Confederation of Entrepreneurs and Employers, Łukasz Bogusławski, ambassador of the “Young Minds” campaign, and Justyna Żukowska-Gołębiewska, coordinator of the “An Hour for Young Minds” prevention program, we discussed the importance of swift action in preventing mental health crises among children and youth in Poland.
The President of the Mother and Child Institute Foundation, Dorota Kleszczewska, shared the findings of research conducted, among others, as part of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. She emphasized the protective function of physical activity, healthy eating, sleep, and mindful use of social media by children and youth. She also presented the assumptions of the Heads Up project, implemented by the Foundation in cooperation with the Faculty of Pedagogy at the University of Warsaw, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, and Palacký University Olomouc. The project aims to investigate the awareness of teaching staff in the area of children’s and adolescents’ mental health, promote reliable knowledge, and involve young people in creating solutions in the spirit of the hashtag #youthengagement.