Kailo - A systemic approach to improving adolescent mental health
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Department Name: Clinical Health and Educational Psych
Abstract
The mental health and well-being of adolescents is vitally important, not only for their own well-being and development, but also as a contributor to the health, social and economic prosperity of our society. Yet evidence suggests poor mental health is on the rise: fuelled by an erosion of meaningful social connections, discrimination, environmental concerns and uncertainty about economic and employment prospects (to name a few). These influences are not felt equally - the most vulnerable in society are those hardest hit, compounded by recent shocks such as COVID-19.
Typical approaches to promoting the mental health of vulnerable young people often fall far short of providing the help that young people need. The mental health system as it stands is largely designed to react to problems once they have taken hold, and as the system is so stretched, help that is made available is often too late, nor is necessarily what young people need.
Our work will take a radically different approach. As a partnership of leading scientists, designers, practitioners and community activists, we have designed an approach called 'Kailo' - which means 'connected' or 'whole'. Kailo is an evidence-informed framework that will support local partnerships to co-design strategies that address the underlying drivers of mental health. The strategies and activities will be informed by the latest scientific evidence about promoting adolescent mental health, yet will be flexed and tailored to suit local needs and contexts. These strategies will result in activities that foster social connections, enhance mental health literacy, create better connected systems of support, and inform changes to local environments and infrastructure, all of which will contribute to promoting adolescent mental health. These strategies and activities will be co-designed by young people, community members, local authority / health system practitioners and leadership (guided by the structured Kailo framework and research team).
The first two areas implementing Kailo are intentionally very different locations. One is Newham, in East London: a diverse, densely populated inner-city area. The other is North Devon: a large, rural area. Both areas have rich assets and strengths, alongside heightened levels of mental health needs and locally specific challenges. We are working in these two contrasting areas as it will allow us to explore and help refine the approach so that it can work across many different contexts as possible.
Running alongside implementation of Kailo in these two areas will be a team of experienced researchers and evaluators, who test what works well, and identify where the challenges lie. This will inform a version 2.0 of the framework, which will then be implemented in new areas, accompanied by a further evaluation exploring the impact and difference it makes to adolescent mental health, and the associated drivers of this. These evaluation activities will include state-of-the-art methodological approaches and system modelling techniques allowing us to meaningfully explore the nuances and complexity inherent in the work.
Finally, a common challenge in this sort of work is ensuring that strategies and activities are sustainable in the long-run, and don't fizzle out. Similarly, we also want to make sure that as many places around the UK and beyond can adopt the Kailo framework so that the maximum amount of young people can benefit. As such, we will be working with leading entrepreneurs and business-minded partners to ensure that our approaches can be widely adopted and sustained, yet still reflect the local nuance and needs of specific communities.
Typical approaches to promoting the mental health of vulnerable young people often fall far short of providing the help that young people need. The mental health system as it stands is largely designed to react to problems once they have taken hold, and as the system is so stretched, help that is made available is often too late, nor is necessarily what young people need.
Our work will take a radically different approach. As a partnership of leading scientists, designers, practitioners and community activists, we have designed an approach called 'Kailo' - which means 'connected' or 'whole'. Kailo is an evidence-informed framework that will support local partnerships to co-design strategies that address the underlying drivers of mental health. The strategies and activities will be informed by the latest scientific evidence about promoting adolescent mental health, yet will be flexed and tailored to suit local needs and contexts. These strategies will result in activities that foster social connections, enhance mental health literacy, create better connected systems of support, and inform changes to local environments and infrastructure, all of which will contribute to promoting adolescent mental health. These strategies and activities will be co-designed by young people, community members, local authority / health system practitioners and leadership (guided by the structured Kailo framework and research team).
The first two areas implementing Kailo are intentionally very different locations. One is Newham, in East London: a diverse, densely populated inner-city area. The other is North Devon: a large, rural area. Both areas have rich assets and strengths, alongside heightened levels of mental health needs and locally specific challenges. We are working in these two contrasting areas as it will allow us to explore and help refine the approach so that it can work across many different contexts as possible.
Running alongside implementation of Kailo in these two areas will be a team of experienced researchers and evaluators, who test what works well, and identify where the challenges lie. This will inform a version 2.0 of the framework, which will then be implemented in new areas, accompanied by a further evaluation exploring the impact and difference it makes to adolescent mental health, and the associated drivers of this. These evaluation activities will include state-of-the-art methodological approaches and system modelling techniques allowing us to meaningfully explore the nuances and complexity inherent in the work.
Finally, a common challenge in this sort of work is ensuring that strategies and activities are sustainable in the long-run, and don't fizzle out. Similarly, we also want to make sure that as many places around the UK and beyond can adopt the Kailo framework so that the maximum amount of young people can benefit. As such, we will be working with leading entrepreneurs and business-minded partners to ensure that our approaches can be widely adopted and sustained, yet still reflect the local nuance and needs of specific communities.
Technical Summary
Adolescent mental health is a non-communicable disease of great policy, practice and economic concern. Levels of unmet need have long been recognised. Inequalities in poor mental health for marginalised and disadvantaged young people have been highlighted and exacerbated by the current COVID-19 pandemic.
There is increasing acknowledgement that existing mental health systems and services play an important but fundamentally limited and stretched role in responding to and treating difficulties. Adolescent mental health is a systemic issue, and to demonstrably turn the tide of deteriorating mental health in society we must address the wider and systemic determinants. Such efforts may be informed by the latest scientific advances in our understanding of the aetiology of poor mental health and the systemic moderators, mediators that exert an influence. Yet a 'one-size fits all' approach will have limited impact, as the wider determinants of mental health are expressed differently in varying contexts. It follows that evidence-informed preventative and health-promotive activities must be tailored to local context.
To this end our partnership has developed and will test an evidence-informed preventative framework called Kailo across a number of communities in the UK. The design and implementation of the framework will be led by leading social design and research teams, supporting equitable and inclusive co-design methodologies, informed by the latest evidence and targeting the wider determinants of adolescent mental health. The framework will be iteratively tested and optimised through a range of innovative developmental and systemic evaluation methods, including realistic feasibility testing, system mapping and system dynamic simulation modelling and contributory impact evaluation. This will inform ongoing refinement of the approach into a sustainable, replicable model, disseminated through extensive policy, practice and research knowledge mobilisation channels.
There is increasing acknowledgement that existing mental health systems and services play an important but fundamentally limited and stretched role in responding to and treating difficulties. Adolescent mental health is a systemic issue, and to demonstrably turn the tide of deteriorating mental health in society we must address the wider and systemic determinants. Such efforts may be informed by the latest scientific advances in our understanding of the aetiology of poor mental health and the systemic moderators, mediators that exert an influence. Yet a 'one-size fits all' approach will have limited impact, as the wider determinants of mental health are expressed differently in varying contexts. It follows that evidence-informed preventative and health-promotive activities must be tailored to local context.
To this end our partnership has developed and will test an evidence-informed preventative framework called Kailo across a number of communities in the UK. The design and implementation of the framework will be led by leading social design and research teams, supporting equitable and inclusive co-design methodologies, informed by the latest evidence and targeting the wider determinants of adolescent mental health. The framework will be iteratively tested and optimised through a range of innovative developmental and systemic evaluation methods, including realistic feasibility testing, system mapping and system dynamic simulation modelling and contributory impact evaluation. This will inform ongoing refinement of the approach into a sustainable, replicable model, disseminated through extensive policy, practice and research knowledge mobilisation channels.
Organisations
Publications
Greene Barker T
(2024)
A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of co-designed, in-person, mental health interventions for reducing anxiety and depression symptoms.
in Journal of affective disorders
Hobbs T
(2023)
Kailo: a systemic approach to addressing the social determinants of young people's mental health and wellbeing at the local level.
in Wellcome open research
Hobbs, T
(2024)
Theoretical and Conceptual underpinnings of Kailo
Kennedy L
(2024)
How does Kailo work to improve adolescent mental health? A developmental realist evaluation protocol
in Wellcome Open Research
Potter K
(2024)
Kailo in practice: Implementation in two distinct communities
| Description | Big Circle Sessions Newham |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Big Circle Sessions Northern Devon |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Children and Young People Action Group |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Nuffield Trust Summit 2024 |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/summit/nuffield-trust-summit-2024 |
| Description | Public Mental Health Implementation Centre (PMHIC) Advisory Board |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/improving-care/nccmh |
| Description | Young People's advisory groups |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://kailo.community/evaluation/ |
| Description | UCL Policy Engagement and Impact Fellowship |
| Amount | £1,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2021 |
| End | 07/2022 |
| Description | Community partner organisations in Northern Devon and Newham |
| Organisation | Ambition Aspire Achieve |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Our Consortium will be able to provide concrete opportunities to involve young people and community members in shaping local priorities and ways to improve young people's mental health and wellbeing. Local community partners will be able to gain or develop organisational skills and experience being part of innovative approaches to co-design and systems thinking, and will get involved in shaping and undertaking some community-based research that matters to the local community. Furthermore, by involving these partners in our research, the organisations will benefit from participating in a high-profile national initiative, with opportunities to gain profile and influence national policy and practice. Lastly, the Kailo Consortium is supported by an influential group of partners, including Dame Rachel de Souza (the Children's Commissioner for England) and Prof. Sir Michael Marmot (leading inequalities expert). We are hoping to influence local commissioning, policy and practice, and our partners will be able to contribute to these aims. In Devon, Kailo is working closely with One Devon Partnership (the Integrated Care Partnership), One Northern Devon and the local Health Equity Strategy as well as Public Health practitioners and commissioners. In Newham, Kailo is working closely with the Mental Health System Leadership. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our Community partners have two different roles. We have Co-pilots: an organisation playing an integral role alongside the Kailo team in leading the co-design process and supporting young people and community members to participate in a 'small circle' co-design team- and Navigators: an organisation playing a lighter-touch supporting and participatory role in a small-circle co-design team. Partners will be contributing the following: supporting active engagement and involvement of young people, families and community members in co-design activities, making available physical spaces for co-design teams to meet and work together, making available a desk or space for young researchers to work from, sharing opportunities to get involved and publicising the work through networks, helping shape and make recommendations to local system leaders, commissioners and decision-makers about emerging designs. Lastly, community partners will also be able to contribute to the following: supporting the Kailo Programme Lead with the recruitment onto the co-design teams and wider engagement with the project, and working with the Kailo team to help design and co-facilitate the deeper discovery and co-design process, as well as hosting one or two young peer researchers, and taking a lead in shaping and undertaking a piece of community research in relation to the emerging priority areas. |
| Impact | See 'Engagement activities' entry. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | The Kailo Consortium |
| Organisation | Anna Freud Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | This partnership is led by Professor Peter Fonagy at UCL (Research director) and Professor Tim Hobbs (Co-director) at Dartington Service Design Lab as part of the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) Consortium Research Grant. This partnership was created to refine a model for place-based, evidence-informed co-design of approaches to promote adolescent mental health. This model is called Kailo. We developed detailed research and design planning, refining research questions, hypotheses and methods to underpin an ambitious programme of model implementation, testing and refinement, scale-up and knowledge brokerage. We also undertook extensive engagement and partnership buy-in in two initial partnership sites - Newham and North Devon. The partnership is now nearing the end of the first year of this five-year project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The specific skills, experiences and contributions each member of the partnership included: 1. Cutting edge research and practice in relation to the wider determinants of adolescent mental health: Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families (AFNCCF) and the South West and North Thames ARC's so that they could contribute their extensive knowledge of interdisciplinary research perspectives related to the promotion of adolescent mental health. 2. Systems science and innovations in evaluation: PenCHORD and Dartington have extensive experience in a range of practically applied system mapping and modelling techniques, including social network analysis and system dynamics simulation modelling, as well as extensive experience in the evaluation of complex system change initiatives. 3. Community engagement, strategy development and service design: Collectively this collaboration brought together unparalleled expertise on place-based strategy development and service design coupled with strong links to communities and young people via service settings and community links. We have also been collaborating with the University of Manchester through the #BeeWell project, which surveys the wellbeing of pupils in secondary schools across Greater Manchester. 4. Business development / financial sustainability: Shift brought a sharp focus on business model development and sustainability, having worked extensively in mental health systems for last 10 years, including successfully taking to market a new youth focused digital intervention venture, BfB Labs. 5. Leadership and influencing: This group has extensive networks and partnerships through which to engage the wider scientific community and influence local and national policy. UCLPartners have also recently joined the Consortium, and are made up of a strategic alliance of NHS trusts, Universities, Integrated Care systems (ICSs), Industry and patients across North Central London, North East London and Mid and South Essex. |
| Impact | Upcoming outputs will be forthcoming as the full Consortium is now under way, and this will be reflected in other Researchfish outcome types and in our annual report to the funder. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | The Kailo Consortium |
| Organisation | Dartington Service Design Lab |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | This partnership is led by Professor Peter Fonagy at UCL (Research director) and Professor Tim Hobbs (Co-director) at Dartington Service Design Lab as part of the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) Consortium Research Grant. This partnership was created to refine a model for place-based, evidence-informed co-design of approaches to promote adolescent mental health. This model is called Kailo. We developed detailed research and design planning, refining research questions, hypotheses and methods to underpin an ambitious programme of model implementation, testing and refinement, scale-up and knowledge brokerage. We also undertook extensive engagement and partnership buy-in in two initial partnership sites - Newham and North Devon. The partnership is now nearing the end of the first year of this five-year project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The specific skills, experiences and contributions each member of the partnership included: 1. Cutting edge research and practice in relation to the wider determinants of adolescent mental health: Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families (AFNCCF) and the South West and North Thames ARC's so that they could contribute their extensive knowledge of interdisciplinary research perspectives related to the promotion of adolescent mental health. 2. Systems science and innovations in evaluation: PenCHORD and Dartington have extensive experience in a range of practically applied system mapping and modelling techniques, including social network analysis and system dynamics simulation modelling, as well as extensive experience in the evaluation of complex system change initiatives. 3. Community engagement, strategy development and service design: Collectively this collaboration brought together unparalleled expertise on place-based strategy development and service design coupled with strong links to communities and young people via service settings and community links. We have also been collaborating with the University of Manchester through the #BeeWell project, which surveys the wellbeing of pupils in secondary schools across Greater Manchester. 4. Business development / financial sustainability: Shift brought a sharp focus on business model development and sustainability, having worked extensively in mental health systems for last 10 years, including successfully taking to market a new youth focused digital intervention venture, BfB Labs. 5. Leadership and influencing: This group has extensive networks and partnerships through which to engage the wider scientific community and influence local and national policy. UCLPartners have also recently joined the Consortium, and are made up of a strategic alliance of NHS trusts, Universities, Integrated Care systems (ICSs), Industry and patients across North Central London, North East London and Mid and South Essex. |
| Impact | Upcoming outputs will be forthcoming as the full Consortium is now under way, and this will be reflected in other Researchfish outcome types and in our annual report to the funder. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | The Kailo Consortium |
| Organisation | Redthread |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | This partnership is led by Professor Peter Fonagy at UCL (Research director) and Professor Tim Hobbs (Co-director) at Dartington Service Design Lab as part of the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) Consortium Research Grant. This partnership was created to refine a model for place-based, evidence-informed co-design of approaches to promote adolescent mental health. This model is called Kailo. We developed detailed research and design planning, refining research questions, hypotheses and methods to underpin an ambitious programme of model implementation, testing and refinement, scale-up and knowledge brokerage. We also undertook extensive engagement and partnership buy-in in two initial partnership sites - Newham and North Devon. The partnership is now nearing the end of the first year of this five-year project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The specific skills, experiences and contributions each member of the partnership included: 1. Cutting edge research and practice in relation to the wider determinants of adolescent mental health: Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families (AFNCCF) and the South West and North Thames ARC's so that they could contribute their extensive knowledge of interdisciplinary research perspectives related to the promotion of adolescent mental health. 2. Systems science and innovations in evaluation: PenCHORD and Dartington have extensive experience in a range of practically applied system mapping and modelling techniques, including social network analysis and system dynamics simulation modelling, as well as extensive experience in the evaluation of complex system change initiatives. 3. Community engagement, strategy development and service design: Collectively this collaboration brought together unparalleled expertise on place-based strategy development and service design coupled with strong links to communities and young people via service settings and community links. We have also been collaborating with the University of Manchester through the #BeeWell project, which surveys the wellbeing of pupils in secondary schools across Greater Manchester. 4. Business development / financial sustainability: Shift brought a sharp focus on business model development and sustainability, having worked extensively in mental health systems for last 10 years, including successfully taking to market a new youth focused digital intervention venture, BfB Labs. 5. Leadership and influencing: This group has extensive networks and partnerships through which to engage the wider scientific community and influence local and national policy. UCLPartners have also recently joined the Consortium, and are made up of a strategic alliance of NHS trusts, Universities, Integrated Care systems (ICSs), Industry and patients across North Central London, North East London and Mid and South Essex. |
| Impact | Upcoming outputs will be forthcoming as the full Consortium is now under way, and this will be reflected in other Researchfish outcome types and in our annual report to the funder. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | The Kailo Consortium |
| Organisation | Shift Design |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | This partnership is led by Professor Peter Fonagy at UCL (Research director) and Professor Tim Hobbs (Co-director) at Dartington Service Design Lab as part of the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) Consortium Research Grant. This partnership was created to refine a model for place-based, evidence-informed co-design of approaches to promote adolescent mental health. This model is called Kailo. We developed detailed research and design planning, refining research questions, hypotheses and methods to underpin an ambitious programme of model implementation, testing and refinement, scale-up and knowledge brokerage. We also undertook extensive engagement and partnership buy-in in two initial partnership sites - Newham and North Devon. The partnership is now nearing the end of the first year of this five-year project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The specific skills, experiences and contributions each member of the partnership included: 1. Cutting edge research and practice in relation to the wider determinants of adolescent mental health: Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families (AFNCCF) and the South West and North Thames ARC's so that they could contribute their extensive knowledge of interdisciplinary research perspectives related to the promotion of adolescent mental health. 2. Systems science and innovations in evaluation: PenCHORD and Dartington have extensive experience in a range of practically applied system mapping and modelling techniques, including social network analysis and system dynamics simulation modelling, as well as extensive experience in the evaluation of complex system change initiatives. 3. Community engagement, strategy development and service design: Collectively this collaboration brought together unparalleled expertise on place-based strategy development and service design coupled with strong links to communities and young people via service settings and community links. We have also been collaborating with the University of Manchester through the #BeeWell project, which surveys the wellbeing of pupils in secondary schools across Greater Manchester. 4. Business development / financial sustainability: Shift brought a sharp focus on business model development and sustainability, having worked extensively in mental health systems for last 10 years, including successfully taking to market a new youth focused digital intervention venture, BfB Labs. 5. Leadership and influencing: This group has extensive networks and partnerships through which to engage the wider scientific community and influence local and national policy. UCLPartners have also recently joined the Consortium, and are made up of a strategic alliance of NHS trusts, Universities, Integrated Care systems (ICSs), Industry and patients across North Central London, North East London and Mid and South Essex. |
| Impact | Upcoming outputs will be forthcoming as the full Consortium is now under way, and this will be reflected in other Researchfish outcome types and in our annual report to the funder. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | The Kailo Consortium |
| Organisation | UCL Partners |
| Department | UCL Partners AHSC and AHSN |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This partnership is led by Professor Peter Fonagy at UCL (Research director) and Professor Tim Hobbs (Co-director) at Dartington Service Design Lab as part of the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) Consortium Research Grant. This partnership was created to refine a model for place-based, evidence-informed co-design of approaches to promote adolescent mental health. This model is called Kailo. We developed detailed research and design planning, refining research questions, hypotheses and methods to underpin an ambitious programme of model implementation, testing and refinement, scale-up and knowledge brokerage. We also undertook extensive engagement and partnership buy-in in two initial partnership sites - Newham and North Devon. The partnership is now nearing the end of the first year of this five-year project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The specific skills, experiences and contributions each member of the partnership included: 1. Cutting edge research and practice in relation to the wider determinants of adolescent mental health: Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families (AFNCCF) and the South West and North Thames ARC's so that they could contribute their extensive knowledge of interdisciplinary research perspectives related to the promotion of adolescent mental health. 2. Systems science and innovations in evaluation: PenCHORD and Dartington have extensive experience in a range of practically applied system mapping and modelling techniques, including social network analysis and system dynamics simulation modelling, as well as extensive experience in the evaluation of complex system change initiatives. 3. Community engagement, strategy development and service design: Collectively this collaboration brought together unparalleled expertise on place-based strategy development and service design coupled with strong links to communities and young people via service settings and community links. We have also been collaborating with the University of Manchester through the #BeeWell project, which surveys the wellbeing of pupils in secondary schools across Greater Manchester. 4. Business development / financial sustainability: Shift brought a sharp focus on business model development and sustainability, having worked extensively in mental health systems for last 10 years, including successfully taking to market a new youth focused digital intervention venture, BfB Labs. 5. Leadership and influencing: This group has extensive networks and partnerships through which to engage the wider scientific community and influence local and national policy. UCLPartners have also recently joined the Consortium, and are made up of a strategic alliance of NHS trusts, Universities, Integrated Care systems (ICSs), Industry and patients across North Central London, North East London and Mid and South Essex. |
| Impact | Upcoming outputs will be forthcoming as the full Consortium is now under way, and this will be reflected in other Researchfish outcome types and in our annual report to the funder. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | The Kailo Consortium |
| Organisation | University of Manchester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This partnership is led by Professor Peter Fonagy at UCL (Research director) and Professor Tim Hobbs (Co-director) at Dartington Service Design Lab as part of the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) Consortium Research Grant. This partnership was created to refine a model for place-based, evidence-informed co-design of approaches to promote adolescent mental health. This model is called Kailo. We developed detailed research and design planning, refining research questions, hypotheses and methods to underpin an ambitious programme of model implementation, testing and refinement, scale-up and knowledge brokerage. We also undertook extensive engagement and partnership buy-in in two initial partnership sites - Newham and North Devon. The partnership is now nearing the end of the first year of this five-year project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The specific skills, experiences and contributions each member of the partnership included: 1. Cutting edge research and practice in relation to the wider determinants of adolescent mental health: Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families (AFNCCF) and the South West and North Thames ARC's so that they could contribute their extensive knowledge of interdisciplinary research perspectives related to the promotion of adolescent mental health. 2. Systems science and innovations in evaluation: PenCHORD and Dartington have extensive experience in a range of practically applied system mapping and modelling techniques, including social network analysis and system dynamics simulation modelling, as well as extensive experience in the evaluation of complex system change initiatives. 3. Community engagement, strategy development and service design: Collectively this collaboration brought together unparalleled expertise on place-based strategy development and service design coupled with strong links to communities and young people via service settings and community links. We have also been collaborating with the University of Manchester through the #BeeWell project, which surveys the wellbeing of pupils in secondary schools across Greater Manchester. 4. Business development / financial sustainability: Shift brought a sharp focus on business model development and sustainability, having worked extensively in mental health systems for last 10 years, including successfully taking to market a new youth focused digital intervention venture, BfB Labs. 5. Leadership and influencing: This group has extensive networks and partnerships through which to engage the wider scientific community and influence local and national policy. UCLPartners have also recently joined the Consortium, and are made up of a strategic alliance of NHS trusts, Universities, Integrated Care systems (ICSs), Industry and patients across North Central London, North East London and Mid and South Essex. |
| Impact | Upcoming outputs will be forthcoming as the full Consortium is now under way, and this will be reflected in other Researchfish outcome types and in our annual report to the funder. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Barnstaple Town Council Youth Network |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Working in partnership with the Barnstaple Town Council Youth Network to share the findings and recommendations of Kailo to the wider VCSE sector in Barnstaple, including finding alignment with existing initiatives. We believe the most successful outcome of this activity to be the development of Youth Voice structures in Northern Devon and further alignment between VCSE orgs on priorities around employment and careers (as relating to Mental Health). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Civic University Agreement Partnership |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Kailo have worked closely with the partnership (of approx. 50 representatives) who are working with a wide range of stakeholders to better support young people into education, employment and training. Kailo have supported the development of this work through presenting, and working with the group to use the research facilitated by the Kailo team in their plans moving forwards. We think the most successful outcome of this engagement was that the Kailo research, findings and recommendations influenced the work of the partnership both in terms of implementation, elevation of youth voice, and the support for Kailo (including developing further partnerships for Kailo) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Co-design engagements |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 'Small circle' co-design team: For each 'Opportunity Area' (i.e. specific focus of research), we have formed a co-design team (referred to as the 'small circle'). Each small circle team includes: (i) a young community researcher (aged 18-25) employed from the local area; (ii) 4-6 young people (aged 11+); and 4-6 local stakeholders (practitioners working within the local authority, health system, and education, or local organisations) and will be supported by the Kailo team. Members of the small circle teams will meet 2-5 times a month. 'Big circle' of supporters: We also formed one 'big circle' of supporters and champions in each area to provide review and advice to the small circle, and enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of their work. This group will comprise 25-50 people from across each area, including 5-10 young people and 20-40 local stakeholders (practitioners, local and system community leaders who work within the local authority, the local health system, education or locally embedded organisations). Precise numbers will be informed by availability and local priorities. School forum: We are also seeking feedback on emerging designs with young people aged 11+ in secondary schools in each area (up to 15 classes of c.30 young people across five secondary schools, in each area). The Kailo research team will facilitate a process whereby these groups will be trained and supported in applying 'systems thinking' and 'design' methods to better understand the specific issue, and bring together their local knowledge with existing research evidence to design policy or practice responses. Emerging designs will be shared and validated with local partners and commissioners as part of wider system reform efforts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | Department for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing Insight Gathering |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The Department of Levelling Up, Communities and Housing (DLUCH) has committed c.£20m of investment in to Torridge District Council (one of the Northern Devon Kailo areas), and were keen to hear about the youth-centred research Kailo had been undertaking in the area, and in particular, how this might inform the local investment priorities and focus. We shared key learning and insight, which supported and supplemented existing public health research in the area. This reinforced a successful case for greater local investment in creating more diverse employment opportunities, specifically focused on young people, and investment in local health and wellbeing infrastructures. £20m funding committed, awaiting approval from new Government. We think that the most successful outcome was the elevation of youth voice in local decision-making, informing a significant government investment in the area, grounded in the research we have undertaken. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Devon Communities Together |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The event, organized by Devon Communities Together, brought together local representative from town and parish councils across the area to share learning about planning for community resilience to expected and unexpected shocks (primarily environment - like flooding, but also health (pandemics) and social unrest and upheaval). The Kailo team shared research around building youth and community mental health and resilience, and shared how systems thinking approaches have underpinned this. We believe that the most successful outcome was a greater local understanding of systems thinking, as it can be applied to a wide range of community strengthening and resilience building activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Devon Community Foundation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | his was a workshop hosted by Devon Community Foundation, a local philanthropic funder. Kailo was invited to share research and insights from our work in Northern Devon in elevating youth and community voice in shaping the design of preventative mental health activity. The workshop then sought to help the Foundation determine its funding and investment priorities over the next five years - shortlisting a number of potential areas. Kailo was central to making a strong case for greater investments in prevention, and in building local community and system infrastructures to support this. We consider the most successful outcome of this event to be the prevention of poor mental health of young people was agreed as a core strategic priority for the funder - as was building systems leadership skills and capacity to support this. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Engagements with Young People to inform development of Opportunity Areas |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | We undertook a range of structured and semi-structured engagements with young people to inform the development of Opportunity Areas (alongside Discovery Conversations with system and community leaders). The Consortium broadly defines an Opportunity Area as a potential focus for subsequent local co-design activities that one might reasonably expect to contribute to improvements in young people's mental health. We have created a set of criteria against which each emerging Opportunity Areas will be considered. These engagements with young people were undertaken to create space for a diverse range of local youth focussed organisations, groups and individuals to share their priorities and explore opportunities to work together on deeper learning and discovery. We undertook street engagements, having stalls at Recruitment & Wellbeing Fairs and we also used local connections where possible to identify opportunities for engagements in different settings. Young people engaged: Newham: 96 North Devon: 170 (North Devon and Torridge) Context: Population of young people 12-24 in Newham: 59,670 Population of young people 12-24 in North Devon & Torridge: 20,344 (12,190 & 8,154 resp.) Total area covered in Newham: 13.98 sq mi (36.22 km2) Total area covered in North Devon & Torridge: 799.7 sq mi (2071.2km2 ) (419.3 sq mi [1,085.9 km2] & 380.4 sq mi [985.3 km2] resp.) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Final engagements with Young People to inform development of Opportunity Areas |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | We undertook a range of structured and semi-structured engagements with young people to inform the final development of Opportunity Areas. The Consortium broadly defines an Opportunity Area as a potential focus for subsequent local co-design activities that one might reasonably expect to contribute to improvements in young people's mental health. We have created a set of criteria against which each emerging Opportunity Areas will be considered. These engagements were undertaken to create space for a diverse range of local youth focussed organisations, groups and individuals to share their priorities and explore opportunities to work together on deeper learning and discovery. Most of the activities related to developing Opportunity areas took place in 2022, but we had a few more engagements to follow up on in Newham. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://kailo.community/early-discovery-newham/ |
| Description | Initial Discovery Phase: Development of relationships and creation of key stakeholder tracker in each area |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This activity was part of our Initial Discovery Phase into building relationship development in our two Kailo sites. These workshops helped us to identify all the existing initiatives and stakeholders who may have interest in and a potential role to play with Kailo in Newham and North Devon. The reasoning was that stakeholders may become invested in the initiative and may be affected by it at some point along the way, so their input can directly impact the outcome. We asked several of our local partners to identify key contacts for us to get in touch with. Key contacts initially identified through preliminary stakeholder mapping: Newham: Public Sector Leadership: 28 Youth and Community Partners: 2 Existing and related initiatives: 13 North Devon: Public Sector Leadership: 11 Youth and Community Partners: 9 Existing and related initiatives: 14 Key contacts identified from across sites through stakeholder mapping, snowballing and local research combined: 223 Individuals from 107 organisations Newham: 118 Individuals from 59 organisations North Devon: 105 Individuals from 48 organisations |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | Kailo Website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We developed a Kailo holding website, in consultation with a design and brand studio that has done a lot of youth-focused work in the past, and which uses creativity and purpose to cultivate social impact. This has been further refined into our official Kailo website, which will be launched in October and which we will use actively to engage with a range of stakeholders and to disseminate a wide range of outputs, blogs, events and other activities that will align with the several different workstreams that are currently underway. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://kailo.community/ |
| Description | Newham Big Circle Online Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | This was an online workshop convened by the Kailo Newham team where we presented preliminary systems modelling outputs from small circles and focus areas for co-design with invited key stakeholders (Local authority public health, Local authority youth commissioners, Voluntary & Community Sector organisations, NHS Vanguard Service). This workshop created onward connections to other work in development in the borough. As a result of this work we were connected to ongoing work exploring mental health in minoritised communities and a regional workshop wanting to learn from the Kailo youth engagement approach to inform development of a public health model for community champions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Newham Centre for Health and Care Equity - One Year On |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Members of our consortium were invited to join colleagues from voluntary, community, and faith organisations, universities, Newham Council, and other partners to celebrate the first year of Centre for Health and Care Equity in Newham, London. We were able to discuss our project and what we have achieved over the last few years and generated interest in further links between UCL and the Newham council. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Newham Safeguarding Children Partnership - Friday Forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of work on systemic racism by Newham Scrutiny Panel, including a small circle member briefly presenting findings from Kailo regarding systemic racism. his is an educational forum open to all members of the Newham Safeguarding Children's Partnership. We believe we achieved the following outcomes: the discussion celebrated the elevation of the lived experiences of youth through the work of Kailo and the scrutiny Panel, and the courage of the young people attending this forum. This sparked question through the discussion of the fairest ways to represent these voices in an ongoing way, during which we were able to emphasise Kailo principles around working collaboratively, enabled through power-sharing and fair renumeration of young people involved outside of paid roles, and illustrate how this may require new approaches moving forwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Newham Youth Partnership Youth Practitioners Network Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Representatives from the Kailo small circle focused on violence and crime presented their initial systems mapping work and their co-design idea and audience of over 30 youth practitioners representing. We had the following outcomes: sharing the gaps identified in current support within the small circle, sharing the capabilities of young people in articulating solutions, and identifying organisations keen to collaborate in a task and finish group to move the concept forwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Newham Youth Safety Strategy Partnership Engagement Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a council-organised engagement event to support development of their youth strategy action plan. Kailo has already fed into development to date. At the event stakeholders heard details of the Kailo research findings pertinent to youth safety and this stimulated significant discussion among stakeholders working across Youth Justice, the Metropolitan Police and Newham Council, to inform recommendations for the action plan. We believe we achieved the following outcomes: Workshop table outputs and recommendations (eg regarding needs for improved safety especially on public transport and across postcodes, safe spaces that are local for young people, and opportunities for youth skills development including financial literacy for vulnerable young people) directly informing the youth safety strategy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Newham and North Devon Kailo Kick off events |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This activity involved hosting online kick-off events with small groups of senior system and community leaders in Newham and North Devon, officially marking the start of the Early Discovery Phase, sharing with the community what our Consortium is trying to do, planned next steps, and ways to get involved. (1) Newham kick-off event: Took place on 11/05/2022 16 attendees (2) North Devon kick-off event: Took place on 19/05/2022 10 attendees |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Newham creative storytelling workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | We ran a creative storytelling workshop in November 2024 with youth organisations in Newham. We created workbook and templates to help them create video content to promote their spaces and activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | North Devon Futures, Economy Innovation and Skills Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Research findings from Kailo presented to the group, with discussion on how the group could support to work towards some of the goals identified. We believe that a good outcome from this was that North Devon Futures committed to working with Kailo and addressing the challenges, and implementing the ideas co-designed by the young people in the co-design team. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | North Devon Wider System Meeting/Workshop (Big Circle) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The workshop/meeting was designed to update local system actors on Kailo at different points in the process, get buy in from a range of system actors, as well as get wider system perspective and input into the research being facilitated by the Kailo team. The Kailo team shared the outputs of the work that had been done with the groups of young people we were working with, which sparked discussion, and input of a wider systems perspective into the work. We consider the most significant outcome/impact of this activity to be that youth voice and their experiences were elevated at different levels of the system and buy in of the Kailo framework by key system actors. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | One Communities Meetings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to the One Northern Devon Community Developers, updating on Kailo activity, getting input and buy in, and being connected to other organisations, and linked into other initiatives taking place in the local area. We believe that as a result of this event we were able to strengthen connections to wider audiences in the local area. We also believe that Youth Voice and Youth Mental Health being elevated as a key area of priority in Northern Devon. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Opportunity Area feedback, validation and refinement from local areas |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The Consortium broadly defines an Opportunity Area as a potential focus for subsequent local co-design activities that one might reasonably expect to contribute to improvements in young people's mental health. We have created a set of criteria against which each emerging Opportunity Areas will be considered. A draft template has been produced that site leads are using to capture, document, validate and refine emerging Opportunity Areas. Emerging themes and Opportunity Areas that have been drafted so far were played back to local communities for review, challenge and refinement. Most of these session were completed in 2022, but we had additional ones planned in Newham up until March 2023, including a meeting with the Newham Council's Children's Mental Health & Wellbeing Board, which hosted a Kailo presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Opportunity Area feedback, validation and refinement from local areas |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The Consortium broadly defines an Opportunity Area as a potential focus for subsequent local co-design activities that one might reasonably expect to contribute to improvements in young people's mental health. We have created a set of criteria against which each emerging Opportunity Areas will be considered. A draft template has been produced that site leads are using to capture, document, validate and refine emerging Opportunity Areas. Emerging themes and Opportunity Areas that have been drafted so far were played back to local communities for review, challenge and refinement. Validation sessions in Newham;. Local Stakeholders: One session planned for 2nd November with others to be arranged. Young people: Sessions scheduled but not yet confirmed. Validation sessions in North Devon: Local stakeholders: Two sessions 12th September Morning and Afternoon Stakeholders engaged: 19 Young people: Holsworthy Youth Centre - Two sessions on the 20th & 21st September 2022 Young people engaged: 44 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Participatory group model building workshop at UKPRP annual conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | UKPRP Conference Participants were introduced to key concepts, tools, principles and frameworks that we hope can be adopted and used as part of co-design efforts in a range of fields related to prevention research and design. In particular, participants were introduced to participatory group model building - an approach employing qualitative system dynamics methods to work with stakeholders in identifying intervention and leverage points. Participants were be guided through a practically applied scenario to put the methods into practice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://ukprp.org/resources/ukprp-annual-conference/2023-prevention-research-conference/ |
| Description | Secondary School Leaders Forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The Kailo team were invited to share insights from the Kailo research to date, and share plans for the implementation of a comprehensive school mental health survey in the area (#BeeWell). The input sparked a rich discussion about school leader and young person mental health literacy, and the need to create school and community-based infrastructures to support this. All schools signed up to be sent set-up and implementation materials for the #BeeWell survey. The most significant outcome/impact of this activity resulted in 7/10 Secondary Schools ultimately completing the survey in their schools, with a 76% response rate. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Semi-structured conversations with local system and community leaders in Newham and North Devon |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The activity involved discovery conversations with local system and community leaders and practitioners. The purpose of these conversations was to make meaningful connections, bring Kailo to the attention of local actors, surface possibilities for the role of the Consortium, and to gain insight into young people's mental health and wellbeing in North Devon and Newham. We also asked the local practitioners to share with us any local resources that could be helpful in either deepening our understanding of wider determinants, local contexts of young people's mental health, or answering our research questions. Documents shared with us included local strategies, partnership websites and reports. Researchers interviewed a total of 78 local system and community leaders across the two sites: Newham: 33 interviews North Devon: 45 interviews |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | Stretch Collaboration meeting with Newham Council senior leaders |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation by representatives of the Kailo small circle on violence and crime, sharing their experiences of being young black men and boys in Newham. Representatives from the small circle joined the Stretch Collaboration, which is a project organised by Newham council's Overview & Scrutiny office to improve the experience that black boys have in the borough. In addition to sharing the approach of the Stretch Collaboration, the young people shared their lived experience of education and policing in Newham. We believe we were able to achieve the following outcomes: the young people spoke passionately and eloquently about their experiences and their contributions were very positively received by the Chief Executive and other senior leaders of Newham Council, who made a commitment to the young people present that they would continue to engage with them as they made decisions on budget and spending. The Stretch Collaboration will continue and made a similar presentation to the Safeguarding Children Partnership Forum in September. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |