Amplifying the Voices of Young People for Sustainable Development in Mental Health

This project aims to advance understanding of youth agency in mental health and contribute to a sustainable and healthy future for Brazilian youth. Working in close collaboration with an advisory group of adolescents from the outset, the research team partners with the chatbot company “Talk2U”. The project involves two phases:

• to conduct a preliminary mapping of young people’s understandings and experiences of agency and responsibility in the context of mental health promotion;
• to develop and test a digital tool – “storytelling chatbot” -aimed at assessing and strengthening young people’s agency and responsibility towards well-being promotion.

It is believed that the project will redefine concepts of empowerment and agency from adolescents’ own perspectives, and engage young people in the design of innovative health promotion strategies. The research outcomes will contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development goal of ‘promoting well-being for all’.

“We hope this project advances our understanding of youth agency in mental health. Our systematic and co-productive research in Brazil should help us learn lessons in how young people and digital innovations can contribute to sustainable mental health and wellbeing across diverse contexts.“

– Professor Ilina Singh, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford.