Piece By Piece

Nicola, Nicky & Adam 3Feb21

nsurprisingly, the feeling you get once you step inside Jigsaw’s swanky new Bray HQ is a distinct calm.

Maybe it’s the seductive colour scheme, or the friendly layout, or maybe it’s the happy threesome of Nicola, Adam and Nicola waiting for you by the door.

Having opened its door just last month, Jigsaw Wicklow is the latest branch of the National Centre for Youth Mental Health.

Offering open and direct clinical support for young people aged 12 to 25 who live, work or receive their education in County Wicklow, those aged 18 and over can refer themselves whilst those under that age are accepted with a referral from parents or health care professionals.

That mental health has become a major issue not only in Ireland but around the world makes the arrival of Jigsaw in Wicklow a timely one. Especially for the younger generation.

And so, we swung by their Audrey Court centre on Parnell Road in Bray to talk with service manager Nicky Russell and youth community engagement worker Adam Burke about their hopes and plans for the coming year…

Ireland seems to have finally woken up to the issue of mental health. Do you feel we’re living in more enlightened times, or has it gotten darker…?

Adam Burke: Thanks for the opportunity to speak to you, Paul. From a local perspective we are just thrilled with the positive reception from the community so far, to Jigsaw’s arrival here in Wicklow. That the community has an understanding already of our value as the National Centre for Youth Mental Health tells me that we are in the process of advancing the positive mental health of young people both locally and nationally. From my own experience of working with young people in this community over the past 14 years, I feel young people are certainly more open and receptive to mental health conversations than they were over a decade ago but we need to be sure that these conversations lead to consistent opportunities for support and that there is an ongoing commitment to normalising mental health conversations and to young people becoming mental health literate and comfortable asking for support when they need it. So yes, things seem to be a little more enlightened but there is still plenty of work to be done.

Nicky Russell: Just to follow on from what Adam has spoken to, despite our current Level 5 restrictions, we are most certainly living in more enlightened times. We as a nation are certainly ‘waking up’ to the issue of mental health. Although times are considered dark from the current pandemic we are living through, the conversation regarding mental health is taking place and I don’t foresee (or at least would not like to see) an Ireland where mental health is not a standing item on the agenda.

It was back in July of last year that Jigsaw got their new home in Bray. Just how busy have you guys been since, given the lockdown?

AB: We have been incredibly busy, preparing our hub in Bray in a way that it can best serve the needs of young people from all corners of Wicklow. We have a great team here in Wicklow with a wealth of expertise and experience from all backgrounds and we have a collective ambition to make our hub the huge asset that it can be to the community of Wicklow. That we have continued to deliver clinical support as a new hub in the middle of covid restrictions and lockdowns should tell you the commitment within not only our team but Jigsaw as a whole to supporting young people and their mental health in what has been a time of huge change and adversity for everyone.

NR: Absolutely, we have been extremely busy. Even though we found our ‘home’ in July, the Wicklow Team didn’t have the pleasure of walking through the doors of the hub until the end of October. And even when we did, we were faced with an empty shell and needed to physically kit out the hub and induct new staff. Within a few weeks we opened our doors to the young people of Wicklow, despite the restrictions at the time, and have progressed ever since. Despite the current restrictions, our hub is still offering full appointments via video or phone modality to the young people across all of Wicklow and we are moving from strength to strength.

With the goal of ‘early intervention’ when it comes to mental health issues for 12-to-25-year-olds, Jigsaw set out an ambition 4-year plan in 2018. Getting there…?

AB: Absolutely getting there and I think Jigsaw’s commitment to the cause is really captured in the My World Survey 1 (2012) and My World Survey 2 (2019), which provide a comprehensive insight into youth mental health in Ireland, being the largest surveys of its kind in this field. Ultimately, Jigsaw prides itself on being evidence informed and the evidence within the My World Survey gives us an opportunity to understand how to support young people’s mental health. We now know that the presence of One Good Adult improves the mental health of young people. We know that exercise and good sleep hygiene are linked with better mental health. We know that talking about problems is also important for young people’s mental health. And all of this knowledge and evidence is continuously shaped in a way by which Jigsaw can best respond to young people and meet their needs.

NR: I agree, we are most certainly getting there in terms of meeting the objectives set out in our Strategic Plan. Covid-19 placed challenges in Ireland’s way but Jigsaw adapted to the pandemic accordingly and at the time moved all services to a phone and video modality at the beginning of the pandemic. Since then the variety of modalities being offered by Jigsaw has moved from strength to strength with www.jigsaw.ie offering a range of services to young people and their families and communities beyond early intervention. That said, we are currently in the process of extensive work for a new strategic plan and look forward in continuing to support the young people of Ireland and their mental health at early intervention.

For those unfamiliar with Jigsaw, what is it that you’re offering the youth of County Wicklow?

AB: Jigsaw Wicklow is a primary care mental health service for 12- 25 year olds who either live, work, attend a GP or are educated in County Wicklow. It offers short- term clinical intervention where appropriate and our service is free of charge. The three main areas of our work include delivering services, strengthening communities and influencing change. It is the area of strengthening communities that my role as Youth and Community Engagement Worker focuses. So, I will be delivering workshops to One Good Adults and One Good Coaches. I will be delivering the One Good School programme with selected schools in the county and I will also be establishing a Youth Advisory Panel (YAP) where young people will be able to directly engage with our service in a non- clinical capacity and help us shape the nature of the work we do, in an advisory capacity. Our YAP represent us and take part in decision making at every level, so they are instrumental to our work. Any young people with an interest in the Youth Advisory Panel can contact me directly by email at adam.burke@jigsaw.ie.

NR: Despite the current climate, we look forward to working with and supporting to strengthen communities throughout Wicklow and schools/clubs alike. We can offer support both digitally and in person throughout the Wicklow Community. To follow on from Adam’s description, young people over 18 can refer themselves and those of you under 18 can be supported to refer in for our primary care service by way of your parents/guardians and GP’s.

Are the youth of County Wicklow initially cautious about discussing their mental health?

AB: I hope that the Youth Advisory Panel will help shed more light on this question and until such time that we as a service can get back into the schools, sports clubs and youth clubs, we can’t yet say how comfortable young people are in this regard. What we do know is that there has been very positive feedback about our hub arriving in Wicklow and young people are already reaching out to participate and access support. So this might tell us that young people in Wicklow are at the very least welcoming and receptive to the idea of discussing their mental health. As soon as covid eases back and some normality resumes, we can test that theory!

NR: Jigsaw having the privilege to originally come to Wicklow was in part because the young people of Wicklow didn’t shy away from discussing their mental health. The activism of the young people of Wicklow and in turn the communities of Wicklow brought Jigsaw here. It took some years for Jigsaw to finally open its doors but I would hope the passion of the young people to own their mental health hasn’t decreased. That said, we are excited to get our YAP up and running to really have the voice of young people represented in decisions that affect their lives, so please, if interested, when we start recruiting, apply!

The internet was supposed to be a way for all of us to join hands and become one as we shared ideas and cultures, but this global melting point is more about competition than conversation. Do you feel that life online plays a big part in the mental health of today’s youth…?

AB: Again, the My World Survey 2 suggests that time online can have both positive and negative impacts on young people’s mental health. What we understand is that too much time online (over 2 hours) can impact our mental health in a negative way but there are also positive elements to time spent on time in terms of social connection. So, life online in some ways echoes life offline… it is about creating a balance. What I have found amazing in my own Jigsaw journey is seeing the level of engagement with our own website www.jigsaw.ie and also here locally in the Jigsaw Wicklow hub with our Instagram. We have somewhat embraced the online world and there is such a wealth of resources on our website, including direct clinical support opportunities, so it is great to be able to have a positive impact in this space.

NR: I don’t think we have lost all ability to join hands virtually to the idea that the internet is only about competition. The internet has certainly provided Jigsaw an opportunity to reach young people like never before and the evolution of our organization via the service we provide online has been a success to date. As Adam mentioned, check out www.jigsaw.ie. It’s here that we offer plenty of conversation opportunities for the young people of Ireland amongst other services and supports.

Currently Jigsaw is recruiting young people for your Youth Advisory Panel. How is that coming together, and what’s the goal there?

AB: While covid has slowed this process down substantially, we have already had expressions of interest in the Youth Advisory Panel and as soon as our community reopens, we will be out in the field conducting a strong recruitment drive for the YAP. But until then, any young people from Wicklow and aged 16 – 25 who think they might be interested in volunteering for our YAP and having a voice both locally and nationally in the area of youth mental health can get in touch with me directly on adam.burke@jigsaw.ie to register their interest.

NR: To follow on from Adam, although these current level 5 restrictions are slowing down our desired pace for the Youth Advisory Panel, we have not allowed ourselves to lose too much traction and cannot wait to have the YAP up and running so please don’t hesitate to get onto Adam!

Finally, what should someone expect when first getting in touch with Jigsaw. You’re online, email, phone… do people just swing by?

AB: Dropping in is unfortunately not an option at the moment with covid restrictions. However, our service is open and clinical support is still being delivered daily. The easiest way to get in touch with us is by emailing wicklow@jigsaw.ie or by calling us on 01 5240796 where our Service Administrator, Nicola will be your first point of contact and help you to identify if Jigsaw is the right service to meet your needs.

NR: Once these restrictions are lifted people of course can just swing by during our opening hours. Until that day, we look forward to welcoming all albeit virtually, for now…

You can find out more about Jigsaw Wicklow on the main website here, follow them on Instagram here, and check out how they got from there to here below.

Again, you can get in touch directly with Nicky, Adam and Nicola by emailing wicklow@jigsaw.ie or calling 01 5240796.