Access and inclusion
We believe that good mental health is not a privilege, but a fundamental human right.
Reaching the parts other health services don’t
Kooth’s population health model means that increasing access for entire communities, and the diverse populations within them is an essential complement to the digital platform. Our approach puts an emphasis on:
Building awareness - through local community outreach supported by national marketing campaigns
Building relevance - through constantly working with our users, so we can represent their voices, co-design services and develop culturally relevant content
Building trust - through engagement with community based organisations, tackling stigma and building long-term relationships
Driving awareness
We run regular national campaigns developed with young people to educate and change behaviour. These are supported with a wide range of support materials, activities and online events for parents, teachers and more.
Our recent campaigns include:
Children's Mental Health Week - everyone has a right to a voice
Go Somewhere Good - online safety and over-coming holiday anxiety
Kooth Future Council - young people guiding our priorities
Ensuring relevance
Kooth works with users and their communities at every stage to co-design our services and tell our story.
Perspectives
Our inclusive origins
Dr Lynne Green tracks Kooth's origins back to Elaine Bousfield who founded Kooth (called XenZone at the time) to provide support for men who remained outside mainstream services.
Designing for equity of access
Kooth's digital platforms are available 24/7, 365 days of the year. However achieving equity of access means ensuring that our resources are designed with, and for underserved and unserved communities.
Overcoming mental health stigma in the Muslim community
Kooth worked with the Muslim Council of Great Britain to develop a suite of inclusive content for our platforms and resources for local community engagement. Examples include:
Muslim mental health
Mixed heritage and balancing cultures
Mental health stigma and religion
Hate crime and racism
Young men's mental health
Our user feedback
Feedback from a broad range of users helps us develop a person-centric approach to mental health support where “no one size fits all.
Building trust
Kooth’s team of Community Engagement Leads work wherever we're commissioned.
They go into schools to deliver assemblies, work with GP practices and engage with community-based organisations - especially from minority groups.
It's a hands on, human approach to establish trust, tackle stigma, and provide support.