What will YOUTHreach test?
YOUTHreach will work on three interventions. Read more about each intervention below.
Walk-in Centre
Walk-in centres
In the walk-in centres in our study, young people aged 12-25 years old can seek help for any concern they worry about, including mental, physical, social, sexual, or financial issues.
These centres are based on a successful model from Australia called ‘headspace’ and are designed to make youth feel welcome. Young people can walk in whenever they need help.
There are no costs for accessing support. And they provide a confidential environment to talk about worries. The goal is to encourage young people to get help early, regardless of their mental health status.
A barrier-free access addresses common issues young people face when searching for support with their mental health, such as long waiting lists, costs, and concerns about privacy.
Key features
✔️ Youth friendly setting outside the clinic
✔️ Rapid, easy and affordable access
✔️ Anonymous
✔️ Open and safe space to talk about everything
Implementation
We are examining existing walk-in mental health centres in Australia (Headspace), the Netherlands (@ease), Germany (soulspace), Ireland (Jigsaw), Estonia (Peaasi), the UK (PAUSE) and Italy (Centro Psicosociale Giovani).
In Spain, we will establish a new centre based on the successful European examples. We are going to evaluate these centres by focusing on (cost) effectiveness, user satisfaction, safety, accessibility and possible expansion.
App-based training
App-based training
In YOUTHreach, we’re evaluating the SELFIE intervention that consists of bi-weekly face-to-face sessions with a mental health professional and an app-based Ecological Momentary Intervention (EMI), i.e. a digital training program that offers exercises in daily life.
The SELFIE intervention is designed to help young people improve their psychological well-being and self-esteem —especially for those who have experienced difficulties during childhood.
Together with a comprehensive information and training package and regular meetings with trained mental health professionals, we offer an app that translates the training into daily life.
The EMI offers different exercises to help build self-esteem, reduce stress, and develop healthier habits in daily life. The exercises are available on demand, suggested by the app based on pre-set timing preferences or scheduled adaptively based on user input.
Key features
✔️ Guided self-help that fits into daily life
✔️ Specifically designed for young people aged 14-25
✔️ Focused on building self-esteem and reducing distress
Implementation
The app can be downloaded to a smartphone and helps users better understand their emotions and behaviours. While it has already shown promising results in the Netherlands, YOUTHreach will test whether it works well and is cost-effective in other European countries.
We will compare individuals that participate in the hybrid training to those receiving standard mental health care to see if the hybrid training provides better or additional benefits. Our goal is to provide clear evidence on whether the SELFIE- training can be scaled up and adopted in more countries as an effective digital mental health intervention for young people.
Online platform
Online platform
In YOUTHreach we study how effective and accessible an online platform is for supporting young people’s mental health.
This platform combines professional and peer support, offering a safe, interactive environment where young people can get expert advice, share experiences, and work on improving their mental well-being.
Key features
✔️ Professional and peer support
✔️ Personalized help
✔️ Safe community
Implementation
Young people aged 16-25 from three European countries will use the platform and our researchers will conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to compare the outcomes of the users with those receiving care-as-usual.
The platform has already been used in a research setting in Ireland, Australia and the Netherlands. The goal is to assess whether it can be effectively integrated into mental health services across Europe and how it meets the unique needs of young people.