ADVANCE project

VISIT THE PROJECT WEBSITE: https://advancementalhealth.ku.dk/

ADVANCE – Addressing mental health vulnerabilities
from adolescence to older age: innovating prevention
science for times of change

RESEARCH TEAM

Our research team at the University of Turku:

Co-PI Professor Maritta Välimäki, mava@utu.fi
Project researcher Maija Satamo
Research assistant Anwar Al-Hamidi
Research assistant Marika Qadri (6/2024-5/2025)
Research assistant Annu Vanhala 8-12/2025, 1-6/2026
Administrative contact person Tella Lantta

Coordinator of the project

PI Professor Wietse Tol, wietse.tol@sund.ku.dk
Global Mental Health, University of Copenhagen
https://advancementalhealth.ku.dk/

MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH WITH VULNERABLE POPULATIONS

Mental health is a very important issue in Europe right now, especially with challenges like climate change, the growth of digital technology such as AI, inequalities in people’s incomes and social status, migration, and the fact that the population is getting older.

We need to come up with new and creative ways to help keep people mentally healthy and to prevent problems before they start, instead of just treating them after they happen in hospitals or clinics.

That’s where ADVANCE steps in.

OUR CONTRIBUTION TO EUROPE

ADVANCE is a comprehensive research project aiming to enhance our knowledge about mental health promotion and prevention, focused on specific vulnerable groups from adolescence to older age in various European countries.

Our goal is to deliver accessible, user-friendly, research-based guidance on new mental health promotion strategies, based on real evidences on new contexts and populations.

Inspired by a social justice and human rights approach, we in Finland are evaluating the best way to deliver and scale up novel mental health interventions (digital, in-person, and combined) for wider use throughout Europe:

WORK PACKAGES

ADVANCE is committed to delivering solid and timely outputs. The following outlines all work packages, detailing our strategic approach to achieving our objectives from 2023-2028.

WP1: Problem analysis and co-creation
WP2: Youth: intervention studies in Lithuania and Germany
WP3: Working adults: cohort and intervention study in the Netherlands
WP4: Adult migrants: intervention studies in Italy and Denmark
WP5: Older adults: intervention study in Switzerland
WP6: Cross-cutting intervention study activities
WP7: Interdisciplinarity and knowledge integration
WP8: Project management & Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication

PARTNERS

University of Copenhagen (UCPH)
Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH)
Mental Health Europe (MHE)
University of Turku (UTU)
Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD)
Institute of Public Health, University of Porto (ISPUP)
University of Verona (UNIVR)
Vilnius University (VU)
University Amsterdam (VUA)
World Health Organization (WHO)
University of Geneva (UNIGE)

SOCIAL MEDIA

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eu-advance-mentalhealth
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/advance_mentalhealth/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/euadvancementalhealth/
X: https://twitter.com/eu_advance
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxPtZStkf1co8PTsb7lrDvQ

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Health and Digital Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTNERS’ ROLES

Description of individual activities can be found here: https://advancementalhealth.ku.dk/activities/

Central Institute of Mental Health
The Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH) leads ADVANCE’s study on the impact of climate change to the mental health of youth in Germany.

Institute of Public Health, University of Porto (ISPUP)
The ISPUP team co-leads the co-creation process of ADVANCE. They will provide guidance on a collaborative approach involving the Society Advisory group, composed of different actors in mental health.

Royal Danish Library (KB)
The Royal Danish Library provides expert knowledge, advise and practical guidance on the application of the FAIR principles to all data collected and used in this project and on the implementation of the data management plan in each work package.

Mental Health Europe (MHE)
Mental Health Europe co-leads the co-creation process of ADVANCE and serves as the network partner for the project’s communication and dissemination activities.

University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen, specifically the Department of Public Health’s Global Health Section coordinates ADVANCE overall. It leads the project management, communication, dissemination, and EU coordination within the consortium (WP8), but also the country study in Denmark with migrants (WP4) and the interdisciplinary approach of the project (WP7).

Heidelberg Institute of Global Health (HIGH) at Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD)
The Heidelberg Institute of Global Health (HIGH) will specifically look into the economic aspect of all intervention studies in all country sites of ADVANCE.

University of Geneva (UNIGE)
The University of Geneva hosts the Cognitive Aging Lab, which will lead ADVANCE’s work package 5 focusing on older adults at risk of cognitive decline in Switzerland.

University of Verona (UNIVR)
Bringing in its experiences in coordinating EU’s Re-Define project, UNIVR co-leads WP4 focusing on intervention study with migrants in Italy.

University of Turku (UTU)
ADVANCE will learn from UTU’s experience in scaling up strategies for mental health promotion and prevention, applying guidance and best practices to all country sites of the project.

Vilnius University (VU)
The team from Vilnius University leads the study on youth affected by socio-economic adversities under work package 2.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA)
Bringing in experiences from the STRENGTHS project, VUA is leading ADVANCE’s work package 3 focused on adults in a digitalised work environment.

World Health Organization (WHO)
WHO plays a significant role in ADVANCE, as 4 of 5 interventions to be used in the project are developed by its team. ADVANCE aims to add in to the evidences of effectiveness of these interventions, in order to be adapted and applied largely to different vulnerable groups.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

2023

Society Advisory Group (SAG) Meeting
Desk review

2024

Literature search and analysis of existing scaling models
Developing 1^st version of scaling model
National survey with Finnish municipalities
Assessment of scaling up model: Delphi rounds 1-2
ADVANCE website in English, Finnish & Arabic
Analysis of data from Delphi rounds
Analysis of survey data from municipalities
Joint meetings with research groups WarChild, CHANGE, SH+J2S, ADVANCE

2025

Proposal for Costing of the scaling-up scenarios in Finland with UKHD
Joint meetings with research groups WarChild, CHANGE, SH+J2S, ADVANCE
Participant recruitment and joining for World Café and longitudinal interviews in Finland
Interviews with stakeholders

2026

Search and combination of existing literature related to scaling-up models and their development process

Selection of guiding common framework
Economic analysis with UKHD

PUBLICATIONS

Välimäki M, Qadri M, Satamo M. Puhutaan tieteestä: Pakolaisten mielenterveysmenetelmien levittäminen [Let’s talk science: Dissemination of Mental Health Interventions for Refugees]. Hoitotiede [Journal of Nursing Science]. 2025, 37(3), 288-289.

PRESENTATIONS

Satamo, M., & Välimäki, M. (2025, May 17). Digital competencies and continuing education for health care professionals supporting psychosocial self-help interventions in Finland [Conference presentation]. NHEPT Conference, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China (SAR).

Välimäki, M. (2025, September 24). Scaling-up interventions in international context: Challenges and opportunities [Keynote presentation]. 12th Xiangya International Nursing Conference & 2nd Intelligent-Integrated Nursing – Emerging Scientists Forum, Central South University, Changsha, China.