Seven projects aim to improve mental health

VELUX FONDEN supports the development of new initiatives that focus on preventing and reducing mental health problems. Seven projects will receive a total of DKK 23.6 million to develop and test new methods and interactions between initiatives in the social sector.

Is there a mental health crisis in Denmark? According to the Danish Health Authority’s latest survey, 'The National Health Profile 2021' (in Danish), one in six Danes over the age of 16 suffers from poor mental health. That is roughly 839,000 people – and young people are hit hardest. From 2017 to 2021, the proportion of Danes with poor mental health increased from 13.2 to 17.4 per cent. Although this increase may partly be explained by the corona lockdown, there is cause for concern about the negative development of our mental health.

Innovative thinking and communities

VELUX FONDEN has for many years supported the development of new initiatives in civil society that prevent and reduce mental ill-health. Last spring, we posted an open call to develop methods for combining initiatives in civil society and municipalities/regions for the benefit of people with mental health problems:

“We want to support innovative thinking about how we in Denmark can reduce serious mental health problems and create more opportunities to live a good and meaningful life despite mental illness. There have been many good project ideas, and the seven exciting projects we’ve selected have an important focus on promoting community and social life,” says head of programme Vibeke Lybecker from the social grant programme.

‘Experts by experience’ increase focus on users

To ensure that the projects make sense to the users, VELUX FONDEN has been assisted by ten people who have first-hand experience of mental illness and mental health problems:

“Having experts by experience attached to this project has been very valuable. Based on their lived experiences of mental health problems, they’ve helped us assess the ideas in the applications and what makes sense to develop and test. The seven selected projects have all received very positive assessments from both experts by experience and professional consultants. The projects look at a range of interesting initiatives and collaborations that could contribute to improving both the individual’s situation and developments in the social sector,” says Vibeke Lybecker.

In order to gain knowledge about what works, a cross-cutting evaluation is also being commissioned, which is currently under tender.

In 2023, VELUX FONDEN will also provide an opportunity to develop methods promoting interactions between social-sector initiatives for the benefit of people with mental health problems. We recently published an open call for projects focusing on mental well-being (in Danish). This time, the experts by experience have been invited to join the process even earlier. They have helped write the open call text and will also assist with the initial selection of project ideas.

See the projects

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