The Eau Claire Health Alliance has two NEW tools for the community – the ECHA Connect with Me Conversation Cards and the Healthy Relationship Toolkit. Parents, caregivers, and youth-serving professionals are encouraged to check them out and use them with their kids and teens!
“Talking about tough topics can be challenging, so using the Healthy Relationships Toolkit to educate yourself on topics like consent, and what help is available locally can be a great place to start.”
-Emily Carlson, Co-Chair of the Healthy Relationship Promotion Action Team.
· Connect with Me Conversation Cards: The conversation cards include 166 questions in 12 categories (like building connections, relationships, mental health, growing up and more). Meant for parents, guardians, coaches, faith leaders, mentors, and other adults to use with middle school students and older (although they can be adapted for younger ages)
· Healthy Relationship Toolkit –We know it can be hard to find reliable, up to date resources to start a conversation. So, our team of experts rounded up resources on topics from consent to technology to local resources and more for you. Search by topic, age, or keyword to find what you need!
These tools help build resilience in youth and create trusted adults. By sitting down with youth and having regular conversations around tough topics like mental health, healthy relationships, healthy nutrition/exercise and substance misuse, adults can create more community connectedness, and better mental and overall health for the young people in their life. It’s important for adults to not just ask questions but also to listen with an open mind, be willing to answer tough questions, and be a safe resource.
“Talking about tough topics can be challenging, so using the Healthy Relationships Toolkit to educate yourself on topics like consent, and what help is available locally can be a great place to start. Or choose a Connect with Me Conversation card based on the topic (or choose one at random) and just start talking. Doing this regularly at the dinner table, on a road trip, or before practice can build up the habit and make it easier to keep the conversation going,” says Emily Carlson, Co-Chair of the Healthy Relationship Promotion Action Team.
