2.  Horizon Europe HORIZON-HLTH-2022-DISEASE-07-03 Project Nr. 101095392 – EARLY

The EARLY project aims to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases such as mental health conditions (MHC), especially depression, anxiety, stress disorders, substance use disorders and identify and reduce risky modifiable exposures for these conditions in youth. EARLY will pursue this goal through developing a comprehensive exposure matrix which can be adapted to emerging new risks, to understand youth, parents, and stakeholders perceptions, we will conduct qualitative, interviews, by providing representative, multinational data on youth MHC and through developing, implementing and evaluating a multicomponent intervention. This will serve as an innovative model for promoting mental health and preventing MHC.

EARLY is a mixed methods study which combines qualitative and quantitative methods to provide an overview on youth mental health measures we will review measures, to provide data on exposure factors and whether exposure estimates vary by country, age, and gender. We will review studies and identify and merge available data on youth mental health; to provide insights on perceptions we will conduct focus groups with end-users. To provide representative data on youth MHC we will conduct a cross-sectional survey which are the baseline data for the multicomponent pilot intervention in five selected countries. To provide data on effectiveness and sustainability of interventions to reduce MHC we will conduct a multicomponent intervention. The results will be a a) model of youth mental health, b) a matrix of exposures, c) insights and understandings on end-users perceptions of youth mental health, d) knowledge on services for use in the European region and identification of needs; e) representative data on youth mental health which can be easily accessed by researchers and policymakers; f) data on effectiveness and sustainability of interventions to reduce both exposures and MHC in youth and finally g) non-communicable diseases risk reduction in adolescence and youth.

Consortium Membership:

1.       Hochschule Emden/Leer, Germany, lead.

2.       LOGOS Universioty College, Albania, partner.

3.       University of Medicine, Tirana, Albania, partner.

4.       The Association of Schools of Public Health, Belgium, partner.

5.       Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Net, Belgium, partner.

6.       Universitè Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, partner.

7.       Technische Universitaet München, Germany, partner.

8.       Universität Bremen, Germany, partner.

9.       Tel Aviv University, Israel, partner.

10.    Universita degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy, partner.

11.    Societatea Psihiatrilor, Narcologilor, Psihoterap, Moldova (Republic of), partner.

12.    European Public Health Association, Netherlands, partner.

13.    Gdanski Uniwersytet Medyczny, Poland, partner.

14.    Instituto de Saude Publica da Universidade do Porto, Portugal, partner.

15.    Universitatea de Medicina si Farmacie din Craiova, Romania, partner.

16.    Univerzitet u Novom Sadu Medicinski, Serbia, Partner.

17.    Stichting Wonca Europe, Netherlands, partner.

18.    Fundacion Privada Instituto de Salud Global Bar, Spain, partner.

19.    Zurcher Hochschule fur Angewandte Wissenscha, Switzerland, associated partner.

Project Duration: 48 months.

Kick -off Meeting, Emden, Germany

To tackle the pressing issue of mental health among young people, the European Union-funded EARLY project has been launched.

With a consortium of 19 partners from 14 countries, where University College Logos is one of the partners, the EARLY project represents a collaborative effort to address the critical issue of youth mental health and seeks to alleviate the burden of non-communicable diseases, with a specific focus on mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, stress disorders, and substance use disorders in youth.

Partners came together in the period 11th and 12th of January for the kick-off meeting of the EARLY project at Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences.

Over the next four years, a comprehensive study is to be carried out on the extent to which mental illnesses can be recognized in youth. Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Jutta Lindert from the Department of Social Work and Health, Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences the consortium sets out to achieve its mission through a comprehensive approach that encompasses research, intervention, and collaboration.