MENTAL HEALTH PREVENTION AND UNEMPLOYMENT: WHAT DEMANDS EMERGE FROM THE MAIN STAKEHOLDERS?

Introduction: Unemployment impacts mental health through various factors.At the same time, deteriorating mental health negatively affects reemployment chances.Mental health prevention is highly recommended for this fragilized populations by the World Health Organization (WHO) (Organisation mondiale de la sant, 2012).Recommendations on such actions are formulated by the literature (e.g.: Bartholomew et al., 1998;D'Amours et al., 2008).Implementation's quality, which includes adapting the intervention with the needs and desires of the target population is advised.Yet, no study has been done on the interests of unemployed people regarding preventive action targeting mental health.Methodology: 13 jobseekers were interviewed with a semi-structured interview about their experiences with unemployment and their wishes regarding mental health prevention.A thematic analysis was carried out using Nvivo 14 software and Braun and Clarke's (2006) methodology.Results: Half of the participants expressed interest in participating in such a prevention initiative.Five main themes were identified, each comprising 2 to 5 sub-themes.The participants were particularly interested in discussions about their experiences addressing psychological difficulties, social and economic counseling, professional reinsertion and socialization.Additionally, they provided recommendations on the structure, logistics, animation and group composition for mental health prevention initiatives.Conclusion: Unemployed individuals are impacted by their situation and seek mental health prevention actions tailored to their needs.They are invested in proposing topics and organizational advice for such initiatives.This work provides the foundation for developing more effective prevention actions for unemployed individuals and better their implementation.