About the Kort project

Between 15-20 per cent of Norwegian children and young people experience mental health challenges, and the prevalence is increasing. The municipalities are largely responsible for prevention and follow-up of young people.

This development requires effective measures, particularly in frontline services. The school health service is in a unique position to reach all children and young people, and there is great potential for increased use of research-based interventions in this context. We want to realise this potential by developing and testing a short, effective and research-based intervention in collaboration with school nurses and young people.

Background to the project

The Kort project is based on knowledge from a national survey of how health personnel in the municipality work with mental health among young people. We found that most young people who contact first-line services have emotional difficulties, and that health professionals themselves want more expertise on how to meet this need.

We have also conducted systematic reviews of the content of effective interventions for children and youth to identify common elements and exercises that often have positive effects across various problem areas. We call these common elements. In Kort, we have selected common elements that can help young people to deal with intense or painful emotions in a positive way.

We have taken these common elements into co-development with young people, public health nurses and psychologists to test and adapt them to the school health context and to find a language that works well for everyone. The co-development will continue through further development, testing and refinement of the new intervention.

The intervention is tailored for secondary school students who seek help from the school health service for mild to moderate difficulties.