ADDRESSING MENTAL HEALTH VULNERABILITIES FROM ADOLESCENCE TO OLDER AGE: INNOVATING PREVENTION SCIENCE FOR TIMES OF CHANGE

Mental health has been identified as an urgent priority in Europe, but is under critical threat because of climate change, digitalization, socio-economic inequities, migration, aging populations, and COVID-19. Protecting the mental health of vulnerable populations in these times of change requires innovative solutions beyond treatment in the clinical healthcare system.

ADVANCE is a wide-ranging project which will deepen the understanding of the mental health promotion and prevention field. It will provide specific programmes which can be replicated for key groups in diverse countries in Europe and create the guidance and methodologies required to ensure that effective mental health programmes can be developed, adapted, implemented, assessed, and scaled.

We propose an ambitious mixed-methods project with overarching interdisciplinary focus on social justice. Our study encompasses: (1) a rigorous co-creation process with end-users, practitioners, and policy makers; (2) an interrelated set of intervention studies with diverse vulnerable populations (from youth to old age); and (3) scaling-up strategy development. We will conduct five trials and an implementation study. Participants will be youth affected by climate change in Germany; socio-economically disadvantaged young adults in Lithuania; working adults in highly digitalized work environments in the Netherlands; migrants in Italy and Denmark; and older adults in Switzerland.

All intervention studies will include adaptation through human-centred design; participatory process evaluations; stigma prevention; and scaling strategy development.

We will deliver situational analyses, intervention packages, and scaling strategies in 7 countries. Based on our research across a range of developmental stages, risks, and settings we will be able to deliver 5 higher-level (synthesis) guidelines widely applicable in Europe – collected in the public-facing, openly accessible ADVANCE resource package.