Promoting good mental health in children and young adults

5. The way forward: Priority actions to safeguard the mental health of future generations

The mental health needs of children and young people in EU/EAA countries are significant, likely growing, and not fully met with existing policies and interventions. To safeguard the health, productivity and flourishing of future generations, countries have a range of good practices to build upon.

5.1. Countries should implement proven best practices to build children and young people’s mental resilience, prevent mental ill-health, and treat mental health conditions

The best practice examples in this paper highlight the strong evidence base for policy interventions which can support good mental health outcomes for children and young people in both the short and longer term. Across all the assessed interventions, several high-level lessons have emerged that can inform future efforts. In particular, the following characteristics seem to play a key role in determining the effectiveness of these interventions:

• Enhance availability and facilitate access to low-threshold support. This could involve cross-sectoral networks (e.g. schools and social services), such as those established in the Belgian reform, as well as teleconsultation and online tools, such as those introduced by PMHC and iFD.

• Use schools to ensure a near-universal coverage to build social and emotional skills and mental resilience of children and young people. Best practices include school-based universal programmes such as Zippy’s Friends and This is me, and more tailored initiatives like Icehearts.

• Enhance mental health literacy and destigmatise seeking mental health support. School-based interventions and peer-based initiatives, such as @Ease and MHFA, can support these environments.

• Implement tailored programmes, that are adapted and appropriate for children and adolescents’ needs and their specific risk profile.

5.2. Countries should share knowledge to build good practices and strengthen mental health support

Transferring interventions is a complex task that needs to be thoroughly planned and resourced. The OECD has assessed the transferability potential of these best practices, and EU/EEA countries generally have the conditions and enablers in place for successful implementation of the interventions in their national context. However, in some cases, practical attempts to transfer and implement these interventions have encountered difficulties due to, for example, variations in the integration of mental health programmes across government sectors, differences in school context, and gaps in mental health workforce capacity. In addition, differences in programme implementation can influence intervention outcomes.

Policy makers should encourage implementers to share knowledge and experiences from previous transfers as learnings from past experiences can improve future transfer efforts. It is also crucial that implementers have at their disposal guidelines and standards to facilitate the transfer and implementation process. A leading example is the Joint Action ImpleMENTAL (Box 1), which utilised an established implementation strategy and provided a legacy for future transfers. As also showed by the work from CHRODIS Plus and the OECD guidebook for best practices in public health (OECD, 2022[26]), key factors for successful transfer and implementation of best practices include conducting a country’s situation analysis and an assessment in the early phases of implementation, as well as using Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles during the implementation process. For example, effective programme implementation in schools would require evaluating programme’s acceptability and feasibility by engaging with school staff, ensuring adaptability to the school environment, and involving stakeholders throughout the implementation process (Dekkers and Luman, 2024[27]).

Box 1. Joint Actions ImpleMENTAL and MENTOR

The 2022‑24 European Union-funded Joint Action ImpleMENTAL aimed at transferring and implementing two mental health best practices across EU member countries: Suicide Prevention in Austria (SUPRA) and the Belgian mental health reform (JA-ImpleMENTAL, n.d.[28]). By end 2024, 17 European countries have initiated pilots of SUPRA in their national setting, and 14 countries have initiated pilots of the Belgian Mental Health reform. The Joint Action ImpleMENTAL supported countries in the implementation process, such as assessing the situation and needs in the target countries, establishing local networks for mental health care, sharing knowledge, setting achievable goals, fostering stakeholder engagement and advocacy, and building capacity for mental health care services. These efforts will continue through the 2024‑27 EU Joint Action MENTOR (Mental Health Together) that aims to promote mental health by sharing experiences across political and clinical spheres.