Mental health is an essential part of our overall health and is just as important as physical wellbeing. However, many people across Europe continue to face challenges in accessing timely and appropriate mental health support.
In 2023, while almost one in two Europeans (46%) stated they had an emotional or psychosocial problem in the previous 12 months, 25% of EU citizens reported that they or a family member encountered issues accessing mental health services.
In 2023, the European Commission adopted its comprehensive approach to mental health, setting out a prevention-oriented and cross-sectoral framework to address mental health challenges across the EU.
Building on a ‘Mental Health in All Policies’ approach, it recognises that mental health is influenced by a wide range of factors and policy areas, and places particular emphasis on prevention and early intervention, children and young people and other vulnerable groups, improving access to care, tackling stigma and strengthening mental health systems and capacity. It is supported by 20 flagship initiatives and around €1.2 billion in funding across EU funding programmes.
A number of projects, managed by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA), are contributing to a more comprehensive approach to mental health across Europe.
Youth-centred approaches to prevention and early intervention
Young people face a range of mental health challenges, but existing support is not always sufficiently accessible or adapted to their needs. The Horizon Europe project YOUTHreach aims to improve access to youth-friendly mental health prevention and early intervention by developing and evaluating complementary approaches together with young people.
The project is developing three interventions:
- YEAH: a free, accessible walk-in centre providing a trusted and anonymous youth-friendly setting;
- SELFIE: a smartphone-based self-help app supporting young people in managing their own mental health;
- MOST: a hybrid online platform combining professional and peer support.
YOUTHreach has so far:
- established structures for project governance and stakeholder advice, with young people directly involved in the development of project activities;
- developed and pre-registered three clinical studies and adapted the interventions and common assessment tools;
- established requirements focused on health economic, stakeholder involvement and implementation to support the evaluation and future uptake of the interventions.
Together, these activities provide a basis for the comparative evaluation of the interventions and their potential contribution to more accessible youth mental health support across different European healthcare contexts.
Making mental wellbeing support accessible through digital tools
Digital technologies can provide accessible and practical ways for people to support their mental wellbeing and complement existing prevention approaches. Joint Action MENTOR, co-funded by EU4Health, brings together partners from across Europe to strengthen mental health promotion and prevention from policy to community-based practice. Among its outputs is HappApp, a free app promoting mental health and wellbeing, which offers evidence-informed exercises based on positive psychology, mindfulness and self-compassion.
Through the work of JA MENTOR, HappApp has been further developed, tested and adapted for wider European use. The project has:
- tested the app in 8 countries;
- translated and adapted it into 10 languages;
- reached more than 6 000 users, who particularly appreciate its clear instructions and user-friendly design.
HappApp complements JA MENTOR’s broader work on mental health promotion and prevention, which also includes guidance on applying the ‘Mental Health in All Policies’ approach, promoting social inclusion and a framework for evaluating community-based mental health programmes.
Strengthening the skills of Europe’s mental health workforce
The growing demand for mental health support requires professionals across health, education, social services, justice and other community settings to have the appropriate knowledge and skills. EU-PROMENS aims to strengthen mental health capacity across Europe through multidisciplinary training and international exchange.
The EU-funded project has developed and provided:
- multidisciplinary training programmes covering evidence-based mental health promotion, prevention, treatment and recovery;
- international exchange programmes enabling professionals to learn from services and practices in other European countries.
The project will present its EU-PROMENS Toolkit for practitioners and policymakers at its final conference in Brussels on 9 December 2026. The toolkit will bring together learning and materials developed through the programme and will be made available online.
