A key partner in realising healthcare innovation ambitions for Scotland believes that a new survey led by NHS 24 can help to forge cutting-edge mental health support for young people amid what has been called a ‘national emergency’

Last year, a College of Psychiatrists in Scotland (RCPsych) report, Awareness, action, accountability: tackling Scotland’s mental health emergency, noted a six-fold increase in young people across Scotland reporting mental health conditions between the censuses of 2011 and 2022.

RCPsych insisted that the nation is facing a “mental health emergency” — but healthcare innovation agency InnoScot Health believes that a survey of 16-25-year-olds can offer answers on how to improve support services.

Young people’s feedback will help NHS 24 better understand needs and make improvements, with InnoScot Health certain that innovative thinking can play a key supporting role.

Innovation Commercialisation Manager, Fiona Schaefer said: “Effective innovations for improving mental health and prevention are vital to Scotland’s future. Not only does mental health underpin the population’s wellbeing, it also affects the country’s prosperity.

“It’s encouraging therefore to know that efforts to gain more knowledge around the issues and innovative ideas which can provide vital support are becoming a greater priority for Scotland.

“We are seeing cutting-edge solutions coming through — from predictive analytics and digital phenotyping utilising AI for analysing movement and speech patterns to detect early warning signs of depression, anxiety, or suicide risk; to wearables which can send continuous data to clinicians, allowing for proactive adjustments to treatment.

“One example in recent times saw Health Innovation South East Scotland (HISES) leading a small business research initiative (SBRI) aimed at meeting young people’s mental health needs. This resulted in the scaling up of Wysa — a locally tailored app designed by clinicians — employing conversational AI tools.

“There remain significant opportunities. First, however, we need a better understanding of how young people in Scotland are accessing existing NHS services and how they can be enhanced.”

The Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland states: “The findings will play a key role in shaping future improvements and ensuring services are more accessible and effective for those who need them.”

This initiative forms part of a wider effort to reduce health inequalities and support a key goal for 2025–2029 — ensuring that young people experiencing mental ill health in Scotland have better awareness of, and access to, NHS 24 mental health services.

The anonymous survey is open to all young people within the target age group — not just those currently experiencing mental health challenges.

Fiona added: “Scotland’s mental health services can be an important first step including listening, offering advice, and guiding young people to further help if required. Fundamentally, problems don’t have to be faced alone.

“While collaborative innovation can certainly be part of the solution for prevention and early intervention, amongst numerous other applications, it is not the only solution in supporting people before they reach crisis point.

“We would urge 16-25-year-olds to complete the survey and make a difference to how Scotland understands mental health issues and better tackles them.”

InnoScot Health gave support and advice to a national project called the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) — a scale of 14 positively worded items for assessing a population's mental wellbeing, developed by the Universities of Warwick, Edinburgh, and Leeds.

Furthermore, InnoScot Health’s March webinar saw mental health innovator Claire Ann Banga invited to discuss the journey which led to her setting up eMoodie, an AI-powered digital health tool and research platform.