People working across health, local government, the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector and universities came together at the University of Sussex in March, for a regional stakeholder event to explore how community-based mental health support for young people can be strengthened across the region.
Hosted by the University of Sussex, the event brought together 30 attendees to share learning from the Co-designing And Testing an Asset-based task-sharing modeL for Youth mental health Services in deprived communiTies (CATALYST) project. Funded by the Applied Research Collaboration Kent, Surrey and Sussex (ARC KSS) the project aims to improves youth mental health (YMH) services alongside young people in vulnerable communities.
Attendees heard directly from community partners about how the CATALYST model works in real life. Partners shared their experiences of putting the model into action, either by giving talks at the event or through short videos. The event also covered how local organisations have trained people who are not mental health specialists to offer psychologically-informed support to young people in their communities.
Penny Fenton, Senior Programme Manager in the Transformation and Change Team at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, gave a talk about wider work to improve mental health services, especially the development of Neighbourhood Mental Health Teams (NMHTs). This supported reflection on how the CATALYST model aligns with ongoing priorities to improve access to community-based mental health support for young people.
Penny's presentation included lessons learned from the implementation and early mobilisation of NMHTs, which offered insight into the complexities of implementing new innovations through system-wide partnerships.
Participants included a wide mix of people, such as clinicians, VCSE service leads, youth workers, social workers, researchers, and public health consultants, reflecting the cross-sector nature of the work and the shared interest in improving how the system supports young people’s mental health earlier and within their local communities.
Those who attended the event highlighted key things to consider when putting a task-sharing model into practice. This included how to train and support non-specialist workers in a sustainable way to deliver low-intensity mental health support, and how the approach could be adapted and used in different settings. There was also strong interest in how the model could work alongside existing services and improve access to support for young people who are not currently receiving help.
Feedback from the event highlighted the importance of continued cross-sector collaboration and evidenced a shared commitment to building on the learning from CATALYST. The event also helped identify next steps for the project, including plans to further refine the model, strengthen evaluation of outcomes, and explore opportunities for wider implementation through regional and national partnerships.
Overall, the day provided an important opportunity to reflect on progress to date and build momentum for future work aimed at improving community-based mental health support for young people.
To find out more about CATALYST click here.
To access the CATALYST study training materials please email
Watch our short video below to hear directly from you people about their experiences.
