Working in a culturally sensitive way

Children with a non-western background and psychological problems often do not receive help on time, and often not the right help. The municipality of Rotterdam wanted to do something about this. In 2015, in collaboration with Learning Connected, Pharos, Lucertis, i-Psy, MEE and ST-RAW, they developed the course 'Culture-sensitive working and early detection of LVB and GGZ problems in migrant youth'. Learning Connected assisted in the process of designing the training and in training the trainers to deliver live online training. Since 2016, more than 600 professionals have already participated in the training 'Culturally sensitive working and early detection LVB and GGZ problems in migrant youth'.

Positive experiences

After the first positive experiences in 2016 and 2017, ST-RAW decided to join forces with two other Academic Workshops on Youth, Inside Out in Nijmegen and AWJ Risk Youth, and apply for a grant from ZonMw. With this grant more trainers could be trained, in two years time almost 300 professionals from 50 municipalities could follow the course and two new, more in-depth courses were designed, namely: 'Street culture and social media behavior among at-risk youth' and 'Dealing with multi-problem families'. Learning Connected provided training for the trainers, supported the participants and supervised the design of the theme sessions.

Project StandUp

It did not stop here. In 2018, Learning Connected and Youz, together with three Academic Youth Workplaces, launched the ZonMw-funded project StandUpIn this project, care professionals received intensive online guidance for a year (live) in the field of culturally sensitive work. These care professionals first followed the basic training in working in a culturally sensitive manner and could then follow a multitude of theme sessions, with themes such as multi-problem families, at-risk youth and social media, alternative medicine, identity building and much more. The theme sessions are taught by experts and experiential practitioners trained by Learning Connected.

LOL training self-sufficiency and migration background

We also developed a LOL training for young people with mental health problems and a migration background and for parents of this target group. We developed this training in collaboration with Stichting Voorlichters Gezondheid, experience-driven youth from the project Koplopers ST-RAW, partner Hogeschool Rotterdam and from the project hoofdzaken of the NJR. The goal of these trainings is to promote self-reliance and recovery. In the spring of 2020 this training was given to different groups of young people from the target group.

Train experiential speaker to become LOL speaker

Furthermore, we trained three young people with experience as LOL speakers and they developed their own LOL training. In it, these young people share their expertise and experiences with professionals from the field of youth assistance and the district teams, making a deep impression on the participants.

Securing training and knowledge

To ensure that the training courses developed and knowledge gained are not lost, the training courses for professionals are also offered through Study2Go, the live online learning platform for mental health professionals. The courses we developed for young people with mental health problems and their parents will be included in the Digi Poli Jeugd of Youz, so that this course too can continue to be followed live online in an accessible manner by participants from all over the country. In 2020, all the designed theme sessions will again be offered with ZonMw subsidy to a large group of professionals within youth care, municipalities, district teams and education, within the project LOL with Academic Workplaces Transformation Youth. Learning Connected will also continue to be involved in the process of designing new theme sessions.

Making knowledge about cultural sensitivity accessible

With all the courses that have been developed and offered, we offer professionals in youth care, district teams, municipalities and education the opportunity to develop their cultural sensitivity. This allows them to better respond to the problems within their target group. With the live online courses we make knowledge about the subject more accessible and available to more professionals. In this way we work together with our partners to better help children with a non-Western background and psychological problems.

Want to know more about this project or the live online courses we offer? Get in touch with us! We are happy to discuss the possibilities.