ME-WE · Project

Mobile Mental Health App and Intervention Toolkit for Adolescent Young Carers

healthPilotedTRL 7Thin data (2/5)

Across Europe, hundreds of thousands of teenagers look after sick or disabled family members — cooking, cleaning, giving medication — while still going to school. That kind of responsibility takes a real toll on their mental health, grades, and future job prospects. ME-WE built a mobile app and a set of support programs, tested them with real young carers in 6 countries, and figured out what actually works to help these kids stay resilient and on track.

By the numbers

European countries where interventions were tested

15-17

Age range of target adolescent young carers

Consortium partners across 7 countries

EUR 3,999,885

Total EU contribution

SME partners in the consortium

The business problem

What needed solving

Millions of European teenagers provide significant care to family members, putting their mental health, education, and future employability at serious risk. Schools, healthcare providers, and social services lack validated digital tools to identify and support these young carers before problems escalate. Without early intervention, society bears the long-term costs of mental health treatment, school dropout, and reduced workforce participation.

The solution

What was built

The project delivered a publicly available mobile app for Android and iOS, psychosocial prevention interventions tested in 6 European countries, a systematized knowledge base on adolescent young carers, and evidence on what works across different national contexts. Total of 7 deliverables including the app and project website.

Audience

Who needs this

Digital health companies developing youth mental health appsSchool wellbeing and student support service providersHealth insurance companies with preventive care programsMunicipal social services and youth welfare departmentsNGOs and charities supporting family carers

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Digital Health & Wellbeing Apps

SME

Target: Mental health app developers and digital therapeutics companies

If you are a digital health company looking to expand into youth mental health — this project developed a publicly available mobile app (Android and iOS) with evidence-based psychosocial interventions tested across 6 European countries. The app targets adolescent young carers aged 15-17, a largely underserved population. You could license or adapt the validated intervention design to strengthen your own product offering.

Education & School Support Services

any

Target: EdTech companies and school wellbeing service providers

If you are an education services provider struggling to support students with caring responsibilities at home — this project created tested prevention interventions and a mobile tool that schools can deploy. The program was co-designed with young carers themselves across 6 countries, making it culturally adaptable. It addresses mental health, educational outcomes, and social inclusion in one package.

Social Care & Insurance

enterprise

Target: Health insurers and social care organizations

If you are an insurance or social care organization trying to reduce long-term mental health costs among young populations — this project provides evidence-based early intervention methods piloted with 10 consortium partners in 7 countries. Early support for adolescent carers can prevent costly mental health treatment later. The tested framework translates directly into preventive care programs.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to implement these interventions?

The full project received EUR 3,999,885 in EU funding across 10 partners over 3.5 years. The mobile app is publicly available on Android and iOS app stores. Licensing or adaptation costs for the intervention methodology would need to be negotiated with the consortium coordinator Linnaeus University.

Can these interventions scale beyond the 6 pilot countries?

The interventions were specifically designed and tested in 6 countries (Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, UK) at different stages of awareness and service development. This deliberate cross-cultural design means the approach is built for adaptation to new national contexts. The mobile app is already publicly available on app stores.

Who owns the intellectual property — can we license this?

The project was coordinated by Linnaeus University (Sweden) under a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) funding scheme. IP arrangements would typically follow the EU grant agreement terms. Contact the coordinator for licensing discussions around the app and intervention methodology.

Is there regulatory approval for the mental health interventions?

Based on available project data, the interventions are classified as primary prevention — not clinical treatment — so they fall outside medical device regulation. The mobile app is publicly available on standard app stores. Any clinical adaptation would require separate regulatory evaluation in each target market.

How long did it take to develop and validate these tools?

The project ran from January 2018 to June 2021, a 3.5-year development and testing cycle. Interventions were co-designed, tested, and delivered across 6 countries during this period. The phased approach means validated results were available by project end.

Can this integrate with existing school or healthcare IT systems?

The mobile app is a standalone product available on Android and iOS stores. Based on available project data, integration capabilities with existing school management or healthcare IT systems would need to be assessed with the development team. The intervention methodology itself is designed to work through Blended Learning Networks.

Consortium

Who built it

The ME-WE consortium comprises 10 partners across 7 countries (Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Slovenia, UK), with no industrial partners but 4 SMEs. The team is heavily research-oriented: 3 universities and 4 research organizations, plus 3 other organizations likely including carer associations like Eurocarers. The zero industry ratio means commercialization was not the primary goal — this was a research and social impact project. For a business looking to adopt these results, the absence of a commercial partner means there may be an open opportunity to be the first to bring these validated interventions to market.

LINNEUNIVERSITETETCoordinator · SE
EUROCARERS-ASSOCIATION EUROPEENNE TRAVAILLANT AVEC ET POUR LES AIDANTS NON-PROFESSIONNELSparticipant · BE
STICHTING VILANSparticipant · NL
MINISTERIE VAN VOLKSGEZONDHEID, WELZIJN EN SPORTparticipant · NL
THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEXparticipant · UK
ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI RIPOSO E CURA PER ANZIANI INRCAparticipant · IT
UNIVERZA V LJUBLJANIparticipant · SI

How to reach the team

Linnaeus University (Linneuniversitetet), Sweden — reach out to the research group behind ME-WE for licensing and collaboration inquiries

Order a report on this consortium See LINNEUNIVERSITETET profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to connect with the ME-WE research team to explore licensing the app or adapting the intervention methodology for your market? SciTransfer can arrange an introduction and help structure a partnership.

Order a report on this topic More in Health & Biomedical