About the project
Mental distress and mental illness represent a serious problem in Denmark. Fifteen percent of all children and adolescents are diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder before the age of 18, and the proportion of children and adolescents in contact with child and adolescent psychiatry has increased by more than 50% over the past decade.
This places significant pressure on both the healthcare system and municipalities. Many families report not receiving timely or appropriate help for their children, which can have severe human and socioeconomic consequences.
Research from the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Aalborg University Hospital shows that more than half of the children and adolescents referred to child and adolescent psychiatry have experienced symptoms of mental distress for over five years prior to referral. Furthermore, most parents find it difficult to navigate the system and to access relevant support and services for their children.
Bedst for Os (Best for Us) shall contribute to ensuring increased equality in access to assessment, treatment, and appropriate assistance for children, adolescents, and families.
The overall vision is that the project will lead to better access to treatment of higher quality, with greater impact of the offered treatment on the mental well-being and daily functioning of children and adolescents.
To achieve this vision, the activities of Bedst for Os will focus on:
- Improving cross-sectoral collaboration and better coordination of interventions for children and adolescents experiencing mental distress or mental illness.
- Developing family-focused assessments and treatments within child and adolescent psychiatry.
- Implementing evidence-based digital solutions in child and adolescent psychiatry.
- Building competencies among professionals across sectors.
The project is organized into 7 work packages. Laboratory for Welfare Technology – Digital Health & Rehabilitation at Aalborg University is responsible for the work package “The Family’s Digital Toolbox.” This package involves developing, testing, and evaluating a cross-sectoral digital platform to support treatment and psychoeducation for children, adolescents, and their families, while also strengthening cross-sectoral communication. The platform will be integrated with sundhed.dk.
Objectives of the “The Family’s Digital Toolbox” work package include:
- Identifying the known and unknown needs of children/adolescents, parents, and professionals within psychiatry at the national level in Denmark.
- Mapping and redesigning data flows and workflows within psychiatry across sectors.
- Developing, testing, implementing, and evaluating the digital platform through co-creation with children/adolescents, parents, professionals across sectors, business representatives, and researchers at both local and national levels in Denmark.
- Establishing a national living lab, “Innokids.dk,” to ensure the ongoing development of the digital platform.
The digital platform will include the following modules:
- Information: Information about diagnoses and care pathways, psychoeducational materials, contact information, and information about leisure activities.
- Communication: Chat and video.
- Common Plan: Contact details for members of The Family’s Team, a shared calendar, and document sharing between team members.
- Monitoring: Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROM), Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and measurable data such as blood pressure and sleep.
Read more about the Bedst for Os project at bedstforos.dk
Co-creation
Co-creation is a fundamental principle in Bedst for Os. Through co-creation, the digital platform will be developed in collaboration with children/youth, families, professionals, regions, municipalities, and sundhed.dk.
The target group
Children/youth and their families connected to psychiatry.
Partners in the project
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry – North Denmark Region
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry – Capital Region of Denmark
- Sundhed.dk
- Aalborg University (AAU)
- Laboratory for Welfare Technology, Department of Health Science and Technology, AAU
- Municipalities: Aalborg, Hjørring, Mariagerfjord and Thisted
- Center for Digital Psychiatry, Region of Southern Denmark
- Lex Futura
Funding
The project is funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Obel Family Foundation.
Contact
Professor Birthe Dinesen
Email: bid@hst.aau.dk