Let's CEE!

Our research

We conducted a scoping review of existing mental health prevention and promotion initiatives across CEE - through the World Health Organization's European Office's Youth Researcher Forum. We are currently working on a manuscript summarising the results.Led by Rita Adamik, we have also conducted consultations with youth from across our region about their experiences with mental health prevention. Check the results of this exercise below.

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“We all have a lived experience” - a first roundtable discussion on lived experience with mental health through Let’s CEE in Budapest, Hungary

As a mental health professional or advocate, we often come across the term ‘lived experience’ in the literature and mainstream English language conversation around young people’s mental health. At Let’s CEE, a youth mental health-focused community committed to reshaping youth mental health, we come from across Central and Eastern European countries and diverse personal and professional backgrounds. As we connect and brainstorm ideas together as an advocacy organisation we kept coming back to the question as to how we all relate to mental health - what is our own lived experience? We also thought that this term needs some cultural refinement: it needs to be embedded in our local realities. This is exactly why we decided to centre a round table discussion around this very theme.Our event titled "What Does Lived Experience in Mental Health Mean for Young People in Hungary?" was hosted at the H52 Youth Office and Community Space in Budapest, Hungary. The aim was to build a safe and welcoming space for young people to reflect on the concept of lived experience and how it can become an integral part of mental health research, service design, and advocacy. We were joined by 12 participants, including youth workers, mental health professionals, activists, and young people with diverse experiences.“We all have a lived experience” - this was an overarching theme that we took away from the discussion. The participants agreed that lived experience really means the skill set of actively reflecting on what we are going through in life, and narrating it in such a way so that it makes sense to us. We also discussed that lived experience often becomes clear only in hindsight, once a sense of safety is restored after going through mental health-related difficulties. Participants also thought that connecting with others who have similar experiences fosters both empathy and healing. Several attendees highlighted how personal adversity can fuel activism, while others reflected on the emotional toll that engaging with mental health narratives can have.We also explored the differences between urban and rural access to services, the risks of over-identifying with one's experience, and the challenges professionals face when drawing on their own lived experience in a work context. Questions were raised about how to incorporate lived experience without placing the burden of expertise solely on those who have suffered.There was strong interest in low-threshold, community-based mental health services and peer support structures. The discussion concluded with a shared sense of purpose to keep these conversations going and co-create structures where lived experience forms the baseline to activism and services.

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A Central-Eastern European service model for youth mental health

Let’s CEE is a regionally grounded initiative aiming to transform how youth mental health care is conceptualised and delivered across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). while existing mental health systems in the region are designed to address crises and diagnosable psychiatric conditions, there are no easily accessible, walk-in style spaces offering immediate, low-intensity support for young people.At its core, Let’s CEE is not just a project but a vision for system redesign. Our goal is to develop walk-in, low-threshold youth mental health hubs across CEE countries—spaces that are community-based, stigma-free, and designed through co-creation with young people. While these would operate under the same Let’s CEE framework and service model, local adaptations would allow for them to be context-specific.
This service model is grounded in existing evidence from similar service models that exist from Australia and Denmark through the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, and to Hong Kong.While this service model is proposed for CEE-wide implementation, country-specific adaptations will always be needed for best local fit and operations.

Core values:● Youth involvement: Young people are actively involved in the design, implementation, and evaluation of services to enhance relevance and effectiveness. In fact, the Let’s CEE network’s core membership includes young people and early career professionals.● Cultural sensitivity: We aim to tailor our services to respect and respond to the diverse cultural backgrounds of CEE-based youth, including ethnic minorities and marginalised groups.

Core service components
The Let’s CEE Youth Hubs represent a low-intensity approach to young people’s mental and physical health care. Young people are matched with the least intensive, most effective support needed, and escalated as necessary. In the academic literature this is described as a stepped-care approach. The Hubs will also serve as entry points to specialised support providers, therefore integrating into the existing health, social welfare and education ecosystem.

1. Accessibility and low-threshold entry
The Let’s CEE Youth Hubs are physical spaces designed by young people that are easy to reach by public transport and are providing a welcoming environment. Young people up to 30 years of age can enter anytime and access mental health support without a previous referral from other services, and without a waitlist.
Opening times and out-of-hour services through chat-based support will be designed based on young people’s requirements.2. Integrated, holistic support
Let’s CEE Youth Hubs aim to provide a single point of entry for multiple types of support. These include:
● A space to socialise after school or work
● Mental health and psychosocial support (e.g., individual counselling, group support)
● Peer support and mentoring
● Physical health check-ups and sexual health services
● Academic and career counselling
● Assistance with housing, legal, or social issues
● Parent/family engagement (where appropriate)3. Mental health literacy in communities
Each Youth Hub conducts at least four community-based workshops per year on locally-relevant mental health-related topics. These workshops allow for increasing mental health literacy in the Hub’s community, and for young people in the community to get to know and engage with services early on.

GovernanceThe Region-wide Knowledge Translation CentreLet’s CEE is a CEE-wide initiative with leadership spanning across CEE-countries. The purpose of the regional organisation is knowledge exchange, sharing of best practices across Youth Hubs, and the creation of community across centres and professionals.National lead agencies and a network of HubsYouth Hubs are formed on a country level. Let’s CEE operated with a lead national agency in each member country. This agency is responsible for the overall management of hubs, governance, the provision of the overall service model, quality assurance, and monitoring and evaluation on the country-level.Youth HubsEach Youth Hub is responsible for implementing the national service model. However, within those remits, each Hub has a high level of autonomy in developing their centre and organising locally relevant outreach workshops, group activities, and social activities for youth.The workforceEach Youth Hub recruits a multidisciplinary team involving psychologists, social workers, nurses, and other allied mental health professionals to delivery the Hub’s services. Preference is given to early career professionals.Workforce trainingA training programme is currently being designed for mental health professionals providing counselling support in Youth Hubs. A Train-the-Trainer approach will be used to support local sustainability, ensuring ongoing capacity building without reliance on external consultants.Local partnerships and referral pathwaysLet’s CEE Youth Hubs are aimed to be embedded in the local health, social welfare and education ecosystem. As such during local implementation local partnership opportunities will be explored.
This will include the mapping of possible referral pathways to refer youth who need specialist services.Youth engagement and co-designEach centre is expected to establish a Youth Advisory Board (YAB) and conduct periodic co-design workshops with users to adapt services over time.Contextual and cultural relevanceEach hub must reflect the social, economic, and cultural context of its community. This includes tailoring language, staffing models, opening hours, and outreach strategies.