Supporting young people beyond mental health services

For many young people experiencing mental health challenges, the transition from mental health services back to everyday life can be difficult. MellemOs (Between Us) develops community-based training groups that help create pathways towards a more active and independent life.

Meeting other people and having meaningful social connections can play a vital role in recovery from mental illness. However, the journey from mental health treatment to an active everyday life is not always straightforward.

This is the starting point for MellemOs. The project explores how community-based training groups can serve as a bridge between mental health services and everyday life. Its aim is to develop a collaborative model in which physical activity, social connection and local community partners support young adults in building a more independent future.

A stepping stone to new communities

In MellemOs, researchers, lecturers, peer support workers and civil society partners work together to develop training communities that can support young people as they move beyond mental health services.

The communities are not intended to stand alone. Instead, they serve as a stepping stone to other meaningful communities and activities where participants can build relationships, gain new experiences and improve their confidence in their own abilities.

“Experiencing mental illness and a low level of well-being can easily make life feel fragmented. Individuals may face significant personal and structural challenges that make it difficult to maintain an active lifestyle, physically as well as socially. The aim of this project is to bridge the gaps between treatment and life before, during and after mental illness. We believe that this can, in itself, have a healing effect,” explains Martin Færch Andersen, project manager and assistant lecturer in physiotherapy at UCN.

MellemOs helps bridge the gap between mental health services and a more active, independent everyday life.

More than physical exercise

In MellemOs, training is about much more than exercise and physical activity.

The training communities are based on a recovery-oriented approach in which physical activity is combined with social relationships, community participation and personal development. It is our ambition to create environments where participants experience both physical and mental wellbeing and resilience.

“Here, movement does not only mean moving your body, it also means moving forward along a person’s journey of recovery and their path towards improved wellbeing. Becoming stronger is not only about regaining physical strength, but also about building the resilience needed to overcome life’s challenges,” says Martin Færch Andersen.

Peer support workers with lived experience of mental illness and students in healthcare programmes play a central role within the communities. Together, they act as bridge-builders between mental health services and everyday life.