Development of a Universal Online Platform (Website) on Mental Health and Psycho-Social Wellbeing of Adolescents

• Country: Belarus
• Summary: Development of a Universal Online Platform (Website) on Mental Health and Psycho-Social Wellbeing of Adolescents
• BYT Ref No: 51251677
• Deadline: 22 Mar 2021
• Financier: United Nations Secretariat
• Purchaser Ownership: Government
• Tender Value: Refer Document
• Notice Type: Tender
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• Description:
• Tenders are invited for Development of a Universal Online Platform (Website) on Mental Health and Psycho-Social Wellbeing of Adolescents in the Republic of Belarus. Terms of Reference for the development of a universal online platform (website) on mental health and psycho-social wellbeing of adolescents in the Republic of Belarus Contract type: institutional Duration: March -July 2021 To be performed in: Minsk, Republic of Belarus Rationale: The Republic of Belarus has all the prerequisites, including government support and the necessary regulatory framework to develop a system for providing remote medical and social services through digital online platforms/portals/hubs. The country runs a network of Youth-Friendly Centers (YFCs), but the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has revealed its limited potential and resilience. Oftentimes the provision of services to adolescents is formal, overly medicalized and unfriendly to young people. YFC specialists lack both the knowledge and skills to work with digital resources designed to render services and the skills to provide online counseling to adolescents and youth. This leads to poor quality of services and makes broad coverage their sole focus. While YFCs were initially opened to provide sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents and young people, the demand for mental health and psycho-social well-being services has increased over the past three years. According to a 2019 UNICEF-backed study, 18.2% of adolescents and young people (14-19 years old) had mild to severe depressive symptoms on the Beck scale; 26.1% of respondents admitted having suicidal thoughts, with 13.8% having such in the last week. The spread of the coronavirus also affected the psychological well-being of adolescents due to the introduction of quarantine measures, restrictions on social contacts with peers, the switch to remote or e-learning, leading to higher personal and situational anxiety, sleep disorders and maladaptation. Given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and more and more services moving online, the provision of adolescent mental health services via digital online platforms is the most relevant and in demand modality. This would help improve access to such services for children, adolescents, parents/guardians, families, including the most vulnerable groups, which would also contribute to the achievement of SDG 3. The Republic of Belarus and the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) currently run no effective online services for mental health and psycho-social well-being of adolescents that would serve as a universal source of accessible and reliable information for this population group. The existing online services are fragmented, provided by teachers-psychologists at educational institutions, YFC psychologists, private practitioners, and are not integrated within a universal multi-purpose, integrated platform supported by the state and providing access to specialists from various institutions and departments, including public associations. Scaling up and implementing online mental health services for adolescents and young people provides an opportunity to initiate social change, overcome social stereotypes, combat stigma and discrimination with respect to mental health at the national and regional levels, as well as bring more attention to adolescent and youth mental health, psycho-social and family well-being. To enhance the access of adolescents to quality information, psycho-social care and support, UNICEF in Belarus, with the technical support of the UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, has developed the concept of a universal multi-purpose online platform on mental health and psycho-social wellbeing of adolescents (hereinafter referred to as ―the Platform‖). The Platform will cover a range of areas, including the provision of information and resources, online training, and direct access to the remote services rendered by psychologists, psychotherapists, and peer counselors for adolescents and youth. The Platform will be created in consultation with adolescents to consider their needs, requests and expectations from it. The Platform is a part of the strategy to shape life skills, 21st century competencies and a healthy lifestyle of adolescents, and in the long run—to foster the implementation of mental health and psycho-social well-being, preventive activities as important priorities in the system of social institutions- activities. It is envisaged that the Platform-s functional model implemented in Belarus will become a prototype/model to replicate in other countries of the Europe/Central Asia region 3. Goals, objectives and expected results: This assignment-s goal is the development of a Platform on mental health and psycho-social well-being of adolescents, which will enable the latter (including the most vulnerable groups) to access high-quality online training, information and remote services aimed at providing psychological, medical and psycho-social help and support to preserve and strengthen mental health, psycho-social well-being, successful socialization and transition into adulthood. The Platform will cover the following adolescent needs and requests, including:  mental health (definition, determinants, risk factors)  psycho-social well-being (definition, determinants, risk factors)  a friendly and supportive environment (in the family, at an educational institution) and risk factors: o risky behavior (alcohol, drug use, etc.) o bullying and issues with studies o difficult life circumstances o all forms of violence o communication issues between adolescents and their parents/guardians o ageism o social pressure o psycho-traumatic events (illness or death of a loved one)  prevention of stressful situations and suicidal behavior  formation of psycho-emotional skills, including effective communication, self-regulation, stress tolerance and relaxation  overcoming stigmatization and discrimination  provision of online counseling by experts  providing equal peer counseling and support Target Group: The Platform (website) should attract and be appealing to various target groups with different levels of digital literacy and residence (urban/rural setting) and is primarily geared towards adolescents aged 10-19. Platform users will include specialists and peer consultants providing online services, and adolescents- parents. Expected outcomes: Outcome 1. Development of the design concept for a universal online Platform (website) on mental health and psycho-social well-being of adolescents to cover the following matters: 1.1 Website design and functionality concept (structure, management, functionality, description of sections, domain options), featuring; • Information component for adolescents and adults • Educational component for adolescents • Advisory component for adolescents • User registration system with registration rules • Calendar/system for making counseling appointments • FAQ; • Useful references; • Extra information based on user/owner feedback; • The online portal must be multilingual (support Russian, English, and other languages). • Ability to filter the search for the necessary information by age, problems, interests and needs. 1.2 Development and approval of the website design and functionality; 1.3 Coordination of technical specifications (convenient layout, content, functionality, navigation, search option, update capability, localization in browsers) with UNICEF Belarus; 1.4 Getting approval from UNICEF Belarus for the website-s domain name and the purchase thereof; 1.5 Other matters related to the approval of the website-s visual format. Outcome 2. Development of a universal online Platform (website) on adolescent mental health and psychosocial well-being to cover the following matters: 2.1 Website development based on the approved design concept; 2.2 Adding the developed content to the website, its testing and launching; 2.3 Development of user manuals to manage and update the website content; 2.4 Presentation of the website-s first version; 2.5 Testing the website-s security, functionality and content; fine-tuning and updating the website based on user and owner feedback; 2.6 Resolving any other potential issues related to the demonstration and transfer of the Website-s final 4 version. 2.7 Training on the administration of the website, as well as its maintenance for the end owner-s responsible staff. Platform content/components: The online Platform will feature 4 components:  Component 1. Information portal for adolescents  Component 2. Educational portal for adolescents  Component 3. Online services on remote counseling  Component 4. Information for teachers and parents Component 1. The Information Portal for adolescents will contain text, videos, games, podcasts, etc. on mental health and psycho-social well-being of adolescents, including risky behavior, bullying and learning problems, difficult life circumstances, violence, problems of communication of adolescents with parents/guardians, stigmatization and discrimination. The Information Portal will provide links to other important resources/websites dedicated to adolescent health and well-being, including the national YFC network, resource centers for youth initiatives, links to information and awareness-raising services of public associations and international organizations (UNICEF, WHO), and to other useful data sources. Component 2. The Educational Portal will feature interactive learning modules/trainings on the topic of adolescent psychological problems, relaxation techniques, shaping psycho-emotional skills and competencies, skills for effective communication, resilience and overcoming stressful situations, particularly taking into account gender and other adolescent characteristics. Component 3. Online services on remote c
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