A call to act: fighting for prevention in mental health
The UK is experiencing profound social, political and technological change, and this turbulence is deepening the country's mental health crisis.
Families, children and communities are carrying heavier burdens – rising costs, widening inequalities, harmful online spaces, and a growing sense of isolation and uncertainty about the future. The truth is stark: the mental health crisis is escalating, and the collective response has not kept pace with the scale of human need or focused enough on preventing the root causes of mental ill health.
We can’t just treat our way out of this crisis. We have to take a different approach. We have to act on prevention. And we have to act now. At the Mental Health Foundation, we are leading the way.
Championing prevention in times of change
As the UK’s only charity dedicated to preventing poor mental health, we are uniquely placed to address the challenges of this moment, and we are doubling down on our founding belief: mental health problems are not inevitable.
With the right policies, environments and support, we can reduce the impact of things which pose a risk to good mental health, while strengthening those that protect it. In doing so, we can empower people to live mentally-healthy lives.
Through the course of this strategy, we want to see real and sustained improvements in mental health and wellbeing from 2025 levels that benefit everyone fairly across the UK.
Where prevention can make the biggest difference
Over the next five years, we will focus our efforts on specific issues where preventative action can make the biggest difference. We'll have a particular focus on young people in response to the unacceptable and avoidable numbers of young people with poor mental health in the UK. We will:
Champion prevention
Create mentally-healthy online worlds
Tackle bullying and discrimination
Improve working lives
These are crucial forces shaping lives today – and they are issues we can influence to prevent poor mental health.
Our approach
Drawing on over 75 years of experience, we combine evidence, influence and collaboration to shift the UK’s approach from managing mental ill health to preventing it.
Our work focuses on the systems, environments and experiences that shape mental health, while equipping people to support their own wellbeing.
We will drive change across our strategic goals through a combination of:
Research
Evidence is core to who we are. Through our research we will continue to generate and share robust evidence on what drives poor mental health and what works to prevent it.
Participation and lived experience
The people most affected by our work will help to shape it, enabling us to make better, fairer and more credible decisions because lived experience is consistently embedded in our work
Policy and advocacy
We develop and champion evidence‑based, preventative recommendations that influence policy and legislative changes across the UK.
Campaigning
We lead bold, issues‑based campaigns to raise awareness, reduce stigma, shape public attitudes and build momentum for action on prevention.
Information and resources
We create trusted information and resources, grounded in lived experience and our research, that help people protect their own mental health and support others.
Working in partnership
We will work with partners across sectors to deliver greater impact, bringing together policymakers, employers, communities and people with lived experience.
A call to act
Our new strategy is a call to act – not alone, but together. It asks governments to lead, employers to act, communities to rally, and each of us to recognise our shared stake in preventing mental ill health.
Our commitment is to fight for a future where everyone has a fair opportunity for good mental health, and where prevention becomes a defining part of how the UK responds to its mental health emergency.
Find out more
Our work
