Walk In My Shoes: Ways to Wellbeing

St Patrick’s Mental Health Services ‘Walk In My Shoes’ programme has been working with primary and secondary schools in Dublin 8 on an exciting collaboration bringing younger and older members of the community together to share tips on better mental health, resilience and wellbeing.  Called Ways to Wellbeing, the project has been supported by Smart D8 – the smart city district in Dublin 8 as one of its first pilots.

Ways to Wellbeing ran on a pilot basis with schools in the Dublin 8 area in 2021, with the aim of rolling it out nationwide in the upcoming 2022/23 academic year.

Younger and older populations of Dublin 8 were brought together for meaningful conversations and insights from one another. For example, students could interview older family members from Dublin 8; write letters to people living in nursing homes or day centres; or meet and talk to older people in the community.

Students taking part then had eight weeks to put together creative projects that showcased what they’ve learned from the older people they’d linked up with, such as:

• Tips for living a mentally healthy life
• How to build resilience
• An important lesson the older person learned that made a positive difference to their life

Their projects used a wide range of styles and mediums, from photos and films to written stories, podcasts and more. All students and teachers registered to take part received project packs to help them in starting their projects. Take a look at their outcomes.