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Headstrong has four main areas of activity:

Service Development

Visit www.jigsaw.ie to learn more about each of our Jigsaw sites. Find out how you can get involved in the work of your local Jigsaw project.

Our service development programme Jigsaw, brings community services and supports together around young people in order to better meet their mental health needs. Every community is unique, therefore Jigsaw is different in each community. Jigsaw is currently in five sites around Ireland and is officially up and running in Co. Galway, Co. Kerry and Ballymun in Dublin. In the coming year it will be launched also in Counties Meath and Roscommon. A further twelve communities are also actively working with us to develop their collective response to the issue of youth mental health in their area.

Advocacy

Headstrong advocates at a national and local level for the right of young people to access better mental health supports, and a change in the way Ireland thinks about youth mental health. Our Youth Advisory Panel, and wider youth advocacy movement are working with us throughout Ireland to find creative ways to inspire this change. We have established a programme of national and community education and training, and are advocating to Government and the nation as a whole to ensure that Jigsaw is made available in every county in Ireland by 2016.

Research

In order to deepen our understanding of the experience of young people living in Ireland today, we are conducting a major nationwide survey of young people - My World. The findings of this survey so far, have provided us with key insights into factors affecting the mental health and wellbeing of young people. These insights provide the critical information that we need to initiate change, and the My World research programme is ongoing.

Evaluation

Effective implementation of Jigsaw in a community is complex, multi-faceted, and challenging. It requires simultaneous and systematic efforts conducted by a range of participants to accomplish ambitious agreed goals. Headstrong is committed to rigorous evaluation of programme implementation and outcomes to insure that local efforts are working, and invests considerable effort in helping communities to assess change. The evaluation provides a method by which Headstrong and the sites can see what works, what is not working, and what must be adapted or altered. In general, the evaluation focuses on questions such as: Which young people with what needs are being served? How are services being delivered? What short-term, medium-range, and long-term outcomes are attained? Is the programme being implemented with fidelity?