Impact of co-created mental health and life-skill workshops with 12-to-16-year-olds from black and mixed ethnic groups during COVID-19 in the UK: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted the mental health of young people from minority ethnic communities, yet effective interventions such as mental health psychoeducational workshops, shown to work for other populations, have rarely been offered or investigated among this population.

OBJECTIVES

This qualitative study examines the impact, challenges and benefits of mental health psychoeducational workshops co-created with and for 12-to-16-year-olds from black and mixed ethnic minority groups in London, UK.

METHODS

12 (8 female: 3 male) black and mixed ethnic minority 12-to-16-year-olds (M=16, SD=1.55 years) currently attending a West London community centre co-created, participated in, and fed back on the impact of five mental health and life-skill workshops through one-on-one semi-structured interviews (M=10 min 8 s, range=3-16 min), which were transcribed verbatim.

FINDINGS: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the interviews revealed three superordinate themes, with a total of eight codes clustered: (1) workshop features promoting positive mental health, (2) positive mental health outcomes and (3) workshop features impeding positive mental health outcomes. Overall, young people perceived workshops to have a positive impact on their mental health and helped provide support in coping with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CONCLUSIONS

Study findings highlight the potential benefits and barriers to entry of mental health and life-skill workshops for young people from minority ethnic communities.

CLINICAL APPLICATIONS: Community-based and co-produced workshops were perceived as beneficial to mental health by Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic young people, warranting greater consideration and implementation in practice.