Building the mental wealth of young people utilising lay counsellor supports and an ecosystem approach

With 75% of mental health challenges emerging before the age of 25, the provision of appropriate supports for young people is critical if we are to reduce the impact of mental ill-health at this critical life stage and beyond.

Innovative service models that leverage a lay, non-specialist workforce are emerging around the world and have been endorsed by the World Health Organization as a viable approach to increase access to early support. Critical to this is the need for countries to take an ecosystem approach to create broad availability of youth mental health support for young people across the spectrum of needs.

The event will showcase ecosystem approaches and lay counsellor service models across high- and low-resource contexts. A panel discussion will explore the perspectives of funders, international organisations, service providers and young people in where we go from here to build the mental wealth of young people globally.

For inquiries, contact Sophie Prober on sopr@detsocialenetvaerk.dk.