Mental health promotion and prevention

A recent report by the OECD finds that mild-to-moderate depression affects one in five adults across OECD and EU27 countries. It identifies 11 best practice interventions that improve mental well-being, prevent symptom escalation, and deliver measurable health and economic benefits. Interventions include school-based resilience programmes, suicide prevention initiatives, mental health literacy training for front-line professionals, and improved access to care through free consultations, youth walk-in centres, and online tools. Evidence shows that prompt and accessible interventions can reduce symptom severity and duration by up to 87%, strengthen mental resilience, improve school attendance, and reduce work absenteeism. Scaling up these interventions across OECD and EU27 countries is cost-effective and can generate significant health and labour market savings.

Read the report here.