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Research informing international adoption of school-based mental health prevention programme

Impact: Health Impact, Educational Impact, Political Impact

Narrative

As Health Economics Work Package Lead in the SEYLE (Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe) FP7 trial, I designed and led the multi-country economic evaluation across 11 European centres. The resulting analysis identified Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) as the most cost-effective school-based suicide prevention intervention among those evaluated.

YAM has since been implemented internationally, reaching over 85,000 adolescents across 16 countries (OECD, 2024) and over 170,000 adolescents across 17 countries (Mental Health Foundation, 2026).

The economic evaluation has informed international policy and practice discussions and has been cited by organisations including the United Nations, World Health Organization, State of California, Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, French Ministry of Health, and the Spanish Parliamentary Science and Technology Office. Sage Policy Profiles identifies 13 policy citations relating directly to the SEYLE/YAM programme.

This work contributed to the evidence base supporting the adoption of school-based mental health prevention programmes internationally.
Impact statusOpen
Category of impactHealth Impact, Educational Impact, Political Impact

SDGs impacted

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Wellbeing