CSART

In addition to the development of a computer simulation model to inform strategic decision-making at the population level, the research program includes customisation and piloting of a youth mental healthcare coordination platform already successfully implemented by the University of Sydney, Australia. This will enable service providers to better connect and coordinate care at an individual level and better tailor services to young people.

Professor Ian Hickie, Co-Director for Health and Policy at partner institution Brain and Mind Centre of the University of Sydney, agrees: “The opportunity provided by Fondation Botnar to take our learnings and technology from Australia and work collaboratively with young people and academic partners in Colombia is both timely and visionary.”

Co-investigator Dr Laura Ospina-Pinillos, A/Professor at Pontificia Universidad Javerian in Bogota confirms: “Countries like Colombia, with limited recourses, cannot risk investing time and money into the wrong things; we need to be more assertive. Fortunately, new and innovative technologies give us that opportunity. We are very excited to be part of this project.”

The ambitious work program is made possible by CSART’s international alliance of partner institutions, home to centres of research excellence in systems modelling and simulation, data science, youth mental health, and transdisciplinary global health – namely:

• Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia;
• Swiss Centre for International Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Switzerland;
• Brain and Mind Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia;
• Computational Epidemiology & Public Health Informatics Laboratory (CEPHIL), Dept. of Computer Science, University of Saskatchewan, Canada;
• School of Computer, Data and Mathematical Sciences; and the Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Australia; and
• Faculty of Economics, Universita della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland.

Dr. Aline Cossy-Gantner, Chief Learning Officer at Fondation Botnar says: “This project tackles an area of increasing focus for us: the mental health and wellbeing of young people around the world. Led by experienced researchers, the approach – using computer simulation – embraces the opportunity Fondation Botnar sees for the role of digital to improve health outcomes. We are eager to apply the learnings from this pioneering research for broad impact at wscale.”

A/Professor Atkinson confirms: “Our team has a genuine commitment to take modelling out of back rooms into forums where it can be scrutinised by a broad range of system actors including representatives from academia, policy, planning, clinical practice, economics, private and community sectors, and people with lived experience of mental illness, to make sure models that inform decision-making are robust and credible.”

She continues: “Participatory development of computer simulation models helps build a collective understanding of what will work and what won’t to improve youth mental health in a particular context before investing time and resources; it helps us avoid unintended consequences; it helps us understand why even some evidence-based solutions don’t have the intended impacts when implemented in complex systems; and most importantly, it helps us make investment decisions that will strengthen the mental health system to improve the long-term health and wellbeing of young people.”