Promoting Mental Well-Being in Secondary Schools in a Virtual Environment - The "wExchange" Project

The wExchange project aims to support mental health literacy and promote mental well-being of young people through peer-to-peer learning methods in secondary schools in a virtual environment. The current paper presents the school students' feedback on the two virtual camps implemented within the project. A total of 80 school students participated in two virtual camps and provided their feedback through a questionnaire with the response rate increasing from 41% to 100% from first to second session. After the first camp, 100% (n=33) of the participants and 93.8% (n=75) in the second camp found the experience interesting, while 97% (n=32) and 92.5% (n=74), respectively, considered the content important. School students reported feeling happy, excited, curious, and inspired, highlighting the positive impact of peer-based learning. The final wExchange material, incorporating peer-developed methods for mental well-being promotion, will be freely available on the project website in English, Finnish, Greek, Portuguese, and Slovenian, ensuring accessibility to all interested stakeholders in the field of school health promotion.