Using data to support young people’s mental health: Introducing the PROACT research project

Every day across Ireland, young people reach out for help with their mental health.

Services like Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health, work to ensure that support is available when it is needed. But as demand continues to grow, services face an important challenge: making sure the right support reaches the right young person at the right time.

A new research project hopes to help with exactly that.

PROACT (Predictive Analytics for Optimised Care in Youth Mental Health) is a partnership between University of Limerick and Jigsaw, funded by the Health Research Board. The project will explore how modern data analysis can help youth mental health services better understand young people’s needs, plan services more effectively, and personalise the support they provide.

Put simply, PROACT is about learning from the information services already collect so that mental health supports can work better for young people.

Why this research matters

Across Ireland and around the world, more young people are seeking help for their mental health. Services, like Jigsaw, must continue to improve how quickly and effectively they respond.

Data can help with that.

When analysed carefully and responsibly, information from services can reveal patterns that are difficult to see day to day. For example, it may show when demand for support tends to increase, what types of support work best for different young people, or when someone might be at risk of disengaging from services.

The aim of the PROACT project is to turn these insights into practical improvements that make it easier for young people to get the help they need.

What the PROACT project will do

The research will focus on five main areas.

Predicting needs and demand

The project will explore how advanced data analysis techniques, including machine learning, can help predict mental health outcomes and identify patterns in how services are used. This could help services anticipate changes in demand, plan staffing more effectively, and respond more quickly when more young people need support.

Understanding young people’s needs

Researchers will analyse anonymised data to build a clearer picture of the needs of young people who access services. This includes looking at how young people find their way to mental health support and how they move through services. Understanding these pathways can help identify gaps in care and groups of young people who may need additional support.

Personalising support

Every young person’s experience of mental health is different. The project will examine how data can help tailor supports to individual needs. Over time, this could help clinicians understand which approaches are most likely to work for particular young people.

Testing tools for clinicians

The research will also explore how data insights could support clinicians in their day-to-day work. In one part of the project, clinicians will test a prototype decision-support tool that uses data insights to help guide personalised care. Their feedback will be essential to make sure any future tools are practical, useful, and aligned with clinical judgement.

Turning research into real-world impact

The final stage of the project will focus on sharing the findings with practitioners, policymakers, and services. The goal is to ensure that what is learned through the research can help improve youth mental health support across Ireland.

Protecting young people’s privacy

Protecting the privacy of young people is central to this project. All of the data used in the research will be fully anonymised. This means individual young people cannot be identified.

The aim is not to monitor individuals. Instead, the research looks at patterns across many cases so services can learn and improve over time.

A collaboration across disciplines

PROACT brings together people with expertise in mental health research, clinical practice, artificial intelligence, policy, and lived experience.

The research team includes Dr Ruth Melia, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology at University of Limerick, Dr Jeff Moore, Director of Research at Jigsaw – The National Centre for Youth Mental Health, and Professor Pepijn Van de Ven, Professor of AI and Machine Learning at University of Limerick.

They are joined by Derek Chambers General Manager (Policy Implementation) at the National Mental Health Office, in HSE Access & Integration team along with youth advocates Jack Kirby and Eva Lenihan, who help ensure the voices and perspectives of young people remain central to the work.

Looking ahead

The long-term vision of the PROACT project is straightforward. It is about helping youth mental health services provide the right support the first time a young person seeks help.

By learning from data in a responsible way, the research aims to help services anticipate demand, reduce waiting times, identify young people who may need additional support, and plan services more effectively.

Ultimately, the goal is simple. When a young person reaches out for help, they should receive the support they need as quickly and effectively as possible.