Opening up the front end of mental health care

An important driver for this project was the ever-growing pressure on mental health services. Much of what we know about mental and social processes only becomes accessible when people reach the formal mental health system. Often, this happens when people are so stuck that they can’t find a way out alone or with loved ones—they need professional help. We’d like to support people before they reach that stage. We can’t prevent people from facing challenges; it’s part of life. But what we can do is equip them with tools to manage those challenges. It’s not about labeling people as “sick” or “healthy”—everyone’s on a spectrum, always moving. We see mental wellness as essential, like physical fitness—empowering people with skills for resilience and self-agency.

Designers’ role

As designers, we act as the bridge between a content-driven (future) vision and knowledge of mental and social processes and daily practice. We found two major ways our role as designers added value when establishing a local collaboration between partners.

1. As designers, we facilitate a process. By guiding different parties through a shared design process, people get to know one another, become more familiar with each other’s organizations, and strengthen the network overall. Through this collaborative exploration, we’ve developed three interventions within Mentaal Lokaal Wassenaar, each sparkling new interactions between professionals.

Mentaal Wegwijs: A digital tool that guides users to appropriate resources based on their specific learning needs. This tool was created through collaboration among organizations in Wassenaar’s social sector.

De Hoofdleiding: A "User Manual for the Mind," allowing people to explore mental and social processes and engage with mental wellness in an accessible way. This project is a collaboration between general practitioners and mental health workers (POH GGZ).

Levenslessen: A curriculum for first-year students, taught by mentors, that provides young people with foundational knowledge and skills in mental wellness. This curriculum was developed in partnership with mental health workers, social workers, and secondary schools.

2. As designers, we work within the pressures of a system (the status quo) while introducing an alternative reality—in this case, a fresh perspective on mental health. Ultimately, it’s the local network partners who will need to uphold and expand this new approach. This means that, as designers, we initially take the lead but aim to design ourselves out of the process. The design process and product development become a powerful means to spark gradual change. By designing alongside local professionals in Wassenaar and integrating their input at every stage, they slowly grow to feel ownership over the outcome.

Key Considerations

We’re looking back on a journey of about four years that we’ve traveled together. We’ve celebrated highs and navigated some definite lows. Along the way, we’ve learned a lot, and we'd like to share three key considerations with you.

1. What is the starting point for change?

Do you begin with a vision and bring others along, or do you start with collaboration and build a vision together? In our experience, it’s a bit of both. There’s often a tension between ambition and reality, aiming to be “most advanced, yet acceptable.”

2. Seek out intrinsic energy.

People who are intrinsically motivated to create change are essential. These ambassadors not only actively contribute to the project’s development but also inspire others. By identifying individuals who act from intrinsic motivation and can serve as role models, you build momentum. Ambassadors are crucial because they don’t just inspire—they play an active role in advancing your organization or project. Changes in network members are inevitable; therefore, it’s crucial to engage new ambassadors early on to ensure continuity. Ultimately, we found that collaboration is more about relationships between people than between organizations. Keep investing in relationships, and give people the space to fulfill their roles.

3. Products are a means, not the end goal.

Interventions serve as tools to foster new connections and promote different conversations about mental health. Products are valuable for creating tangible, clear points of focus within a collaboration. They make abstract ideas concrete, making it easier for more people to get involved, contributing to cohesion within the network. However, there’s a risk that the focus shifts solely to these interventions, rather than the collaborative fabric they create.

Conclusion

​​Innovation through intervention development fosters real engagement, yet the embedding phase is equally vital—it requires patience and expertise to step back gradually as a designer. In this post we’ve shared our experiences from building a local network to support residents’ mental wellbeing, though countless challenges remain to be discussed. For example, how can a team stay motivated over a four-year project? How do you collaborate with time-strapped organizations facing intense pressure? How do you juggle time and resources while handling inevitable setbacks along the way? Our journey continues, that’s for sure! We will keep experimenting and learn as we go. We look forward to sharing more about our mental health initiatives. Stay tuned for future updates!