Kailo

Kailo – A systemic approach to improving adolescent mental health

UKPRP award £5.3 million for 5 years

Kailo will develop, test and scale an evidence-informed framework that will support local partnerships to co-design strategies that address the underlying drivers of poor adolescent mental health.

Our research

The Kailo programme, funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKRP), supports young people and their communities to develop local solutions to improve adolescent mental health across the UK. Working with partnerships in Newham and Northern Devon—alongside UCL, Dartington Service Design Lab, the University of Exeter, the Anna Freud Centre and UCLPartners—we co-design strategies that address the underlying drivers of poor mental health.

Kailo takes a preventative, systemic approach, enabling young people and local partners to identify what matters most for wellbeing and to co-create, test and scale solutions that tackle the social determinants of mental health. Young people’s voices are embedded across research, policy and practice, shaping academic outputs, influencing decision-making and informing the development of innovative, evidence-based tools.

Our work is ongoing with our local partners in Devon (Devon Mental Health Alliance) , Havering (Youth Unity & Havering Council), Camden (Citizens Uk & Camden Council) and Newham– but early impacts indicate meaningful progress at a systems level. In Northern Devon, Kailo is increasingly embedded within local governance and partnership structures, helping to shape cross-sector priorities, including those related to education and employment. Co-produced initiatives have expanded opportunities for young people and strengthened collaboration between local partners. Youth-led innovation has also grown, with new programmes gaining external support and being adapted for delivery across different settings. Local leadership arrangements have evolved to support longer-term sustainability and to further embed youth voice within decision-making processes.

In Havering and Devon, a co-designed wellbeing survey (#BeeWell-a collaboration between The University of Manchester, The Gregson Family Foundation, the Anna Freud Centre and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority) has helped establish a local baseline of young people’s experiences across a number of secondary schools. The findings have supported school-level planning and informed wider strategic discussions around public health and wellbeing. The survey has contributed to a more sustainable approach to ongoing wellbeing monitoring and prevention-focused work.

For more information and to get in touch with the team, please visit https://kailo.community

Resources

Tools and support for local authorities to co-design mental health strategies for young people. For more information and to get in touch with the team, please visit https://kailo.community/framework/
Kailo evaluation team – A partnership between UCL, the University of Exeter and the Anna Freud Centre
- https://kailo.community/evaluation/
- Our Young Person’s Advisory Groups- why young people attend advisory groups
Radio – Kailo’s work in Devon was featured in the Radio 4 Documentary Three Ages of Child, by paediatrician and broadcaster, Dr Guddi Singh)– highlighting innovative approaches to supporting young people’s mental health. Dr Singh interviews Katie Potter, Senior Service Designer at Dartington Service Design Lab and Kailo Devon lead, as well as Kailo’s Expert Advisory Group co-chair, Sir Michael Marmot. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002k385
#BeeWell
Videos

Co-directors

Professor Peter Fonagy

Professor of Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Developmental Science at UCL, and Chief Executive of the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families

University College London

Professor Tim Hobbs

Chief Executive, Dartington Service Design Lab

Dartington Service Design Lab

Consortium members

Kailo’s membership includes:

Research expertise – including co-investigators from UCL, University of Exeter and Dartington Service Design Lab – bringing expertise in adolescent mental health, clinical service provision, systems thinking, applied healthcare modelling, data science, implementation science and developmental and systemic evaluation.
Partners in Newham and North Devon, including leaders in public health, integrated health and social care, and locally embedded organisations working with young people.
Mental health practice and design expertise, with co-investigators from third sector partners at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, Redthread and Shift.