ABOUT THE AWARE PROJECT

AWARE is an Erasmus+ funded project in which we will research, pilot and produce a training manual
for training sessions in prisons to increase awareness of mental health needs in the criminal justice
system, and tools for mental health first aid.
The AWARE Project are seven organisations from six European countries: statutory justice, research
and non-profit organisations. Our transnational, cross-sector approach to mental health in criminal
justice necessitates a fresh look at how we collaborate to promote and transfer what works in
recognising and supporting mental health needs.
Find out more on www.aware-project.org
ABOUT THE WEBINAR SERIES
AWARE partners have developed two active discussion groups, on LinkedIn and on Facebook. Our aim with
these webinars is two-fold:

 To tell these audiences more about what AWARE found, and how the training we are developing could
be useful – on a local and national level - to policy and practice in their own working environment.
 To deepen and grow the connections between individuals on practitioner level within these networks,
by giving an insight into an aspect of current practice relevant to mental health in prison

The webinars will follow four key themes of the AWARE training manual, with the addition of one webinar
specifically discussing mental health, resilience and isolation:

COVID-19 restrictions, isolation and mental health in prison

Supporting prison staff with their own mental health

Prison, family, resilience and mental health

Resilience and mental health, for non-clinical criminal justice staff

Mental health and release from prison

Each webinar will be 45 minutes long, and will be a discussion between two practitioners (the panelists) with
questions from representatives of the prison, health and non-profit systems which support mental health in
prison (the focus group) and from the audience (participants invited through LinkedIn and Facebook).
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/groups/13655970

FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/273196936931716/ (Prison and mental health)

Here’s an example of how each session might be planned out:

Minutes What’s happening

Introduction of AWARE project, introduction of this thematic webinar, introduction of
2
2 speakers, introduction of focus group participants
7 First speaker presents on aspect of 1 key theme of MH awareness
Questions for first speaker from focus group of (at least) one correctional officer, one
5
psychologist, one non-profit working in Justice
7 Second speaker presents on different aspect this key theme
5 Questions for second speaker from focus group
5 2 questions for both speakers which speakers will have in advance
10 Open questions from participants (sent in via chat or in advance) and/or focus group
2 Thanks to the speakers. Direct participants to further AWARE resources

ABOUT THE PANELISTS

The two panellists have been invited to one thematic seminar because they work specifically in this
area of mental health in criminal justice. They will prepare a very short (5-10 minute) presentation on
an aspect of this project which might be transferrable into the practice of the audience listening.
ABOUT THE FOCUS GROUPS

We want to hear the voices of prison officers, mental health in prison practitioners and NGO/
volunteer staff who work with prisoners at every stage in the AWARE project. Each webinar will have
at least one person from each of these three groups present as representatives of AWARE’s target
audience. These ‘focus group participants’ can change each time or be the same people (You have
someone who works for an NGO who supports prisoners' families? They might only like to join that
one session). They need to:

 invest an hour or so before the seminar in thinking about what the panelists will present,
 have a look at the AWARE infographics to see what our data tells them,
 prepare at least two general questions they would like to ask the panellists (or even a poll for
all participants), then
 attend the 45 minutes of the actual seminar.
The focus group participants need to be confident enough in their English to ask their questions live,
and we can support them by translating their questions into English beforehand if this helps.