Helping Adolescents Thrive Toolkit

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 Strategies to promote and protect adolescent mental health  and reduce self-harm and other risk behaviours

The Helping Adolescents Thrive toolkit is a component of the Helping Adolescents Thrive package, initiated by the WHO Departments of Mental Health and Substance Use and of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Aging, and the Maternal Newborn Adolescent Health Unit, Health Section, UNICEF. WHO and UNICEF wish to thank the following for their contributions to the development of the HAT toolkit in various capacities. The affiliations noted are those that were valid at the time of contribution.

Adolescence is a period of rapid development during which individuals experience profound physical, social and psychological changes and during which the maturing brain is highly susceptible to environmental influences (1). As such, adolescence offers great potential for health promotion and preventive interventions to influence health and developmental outcomes (2), and to influence young lives positively in the short and long term, and into the next generation (3). A renewed focus on creating a supportive environment that enables positive mental health for adolescents is urgently needed. By effectively implementing a comprehensive set of strategies to support adolescent mental health, young people will enjoy improved well- being and will be able to realize their potential and participate meaningfully in their communities (4).