Across the Nordics, emerging adults — those aged 18 to 29 — are experiencing a rapidly escalating mental health crisis. Despite the growing need, the support systems designed to help them remain fragmented, under-resourced, and out of sync with the complex realities of this transitional life phase. Recognizing these gaps, Next in Mind undertook an extensive ecosystem mapping to better understand the landscape of mental health support for emerging adults.
This research involved input from over 1,000 young people and more than 50 stakeholders, revealing both critical shortcomings and promising innovations. The resulting report, Emerging Adults’ Right to Wellbeing, lays the foundation for urgent, coordinated action to reshape support systems that truly meet the needs of this generation.
Today, as part of the Next in Mind initiative, we launch Emerging Adults’ Right to Wellbeing — a report shaped by the voices of over 1,000 emerging adults and more than 50 stakeholders from Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. This is not just a report. It’s a call to urgent, collective action.
This crisis is multi-dimensional — and the response must be equally comprehensive. At its core, the report places emerging adults not simply as recipients of care, but as co-creators of the change we desperately need. To build systems that work for them, we must listen — and then act. The report outlines six key insights critical for shaping an effective response:
- Establish emerging adults as their own target group.
Policies, research, and services must adapt to the specific challenges at this transitional stage. This includes investing in support and health promotion for those in particularly vulnerable situations, such as national minorities, individuals in low-income areas, and LGBTQIA+ communities. Establishing this age group as distinct empowers targeted, effective solutions. - Destigmatize seeking support for mental health.
Mental health conversations must be normalized in everyday spaces — social media, educational institutions, community centers, and sports clubs. By amplifying society-wide efforts to raise mental health literacy and promote healthy narratives, especially for groups facing compounded risk factors like discrimination and social exclusion, the barrier of stigma loses its grip. - Ensure responsibility and commitment from key actors in emerging adults’ lives.
Educational institutions, workplaces, and local communities must actively promote and implement effective mental wellbeing strategies. Integrating basic mental health awareness and proactive support in these everyday environments creates core pillars of a broader system. - Commit to cross-sector collaboration to increase access to proactive support.
“Stronger collaboration must be activated between public, private, and civil society actors to deliver coordinated, accessible, and preventive mental health support. Clear roles, incentives, and shared goals make cross-sector collaboration effective, transforming fragmented systems into healing networks.” - Improve access to low-threshold support during critical transition phases.
“Community-driven and social venture solutions must be scaled and made more accessible through centralized information hubs and supportive policies. These trusted, low-barrier platforms often reach emerging adults more effectively, strengthening their role within the wider system. - Improve implementation of proven mental health innovations for emerging adults.
“Successful models developed by social entrepreneurs and civil society must be structurally supported to scale impact. Long-term, blended funding and procurement systems that integrate these solutions into existing frameworks will help secure sustainable, systemic change.”
We cannot wait any longer. This report gives us direction and weight — but it’s just the beginning. The change we need demands intentional, proactive, and collaborative action across sectors and communities.
Bring this report into your boardrooms, classrooms, media outlets, and policy forums. Share it widely. Expand the circle of those who care. Real change doesn’t wait for permission. It happens when we act — together.
Join the movement. Read and share the full report → www.nextinmind.org
