The YPMH ecosystem
From understanding to impact
The YPMH ecosystem represents young people’s mental health – and the people, ideas and systems we bring together to help prevent and reduce mental ill health.
We connect researchers, innovators and organisations from across the mental health ecosystem to:
- Build understanding of the social, psychological and biological factors and mechanisms behind mental health conditions, the links between them, and how this joined-up understanding can enable the identification of interventions from prevention to treatment
- Equip young people, families and professionals with practical tools and evidence-based knowledge to help prevent and reduce mental ill health
- Accelerate the innovation and implementation of impactful that can be used effectively in real-world settings
- Promote systems-level change for long-term and sustainable impact
Our goal is to ensure that new ideas do not remain in academic research but are translated into practical solutions that support young people, families and services today.
What the YPMH ecosystem represents
The YPMH ecosystem symbolises our holistic approach to improving young people’s mental health. It reflects both the factors that affect a person’s mental wellbeing and the wide community of people people and organisations needed to drive progress.
The solid shapes at the centre of the logo represent the core areas that influence an individual’s mental health, including
- Underlying health conditions (such as chronic inflammation or gut-brain interactions)
- Body systems (nervous, immune and endocrine)
- Genetics and epigenetics
- Environment and life experiences
- Lifestyle and behaviours (like diet, sleep and exercise)
These interconnected factors shape a person’s risk, resilience and experience of mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.
The outline shapes represent the wider ecosystem that influences young people’s mental health. These include the groups who generate knowledge, develop innovations and put them into action – from research and healthcare to education, policy and lived experience.
Together, these groups form an interconnected ecosystem that is essential for improving prevention, early detection, diagnosis, management and treatment.
