The SMILE project aims to empower youth by fostering resilience through the development of essential socio-emotional and cognitive skills such as cognitive flexibility, effective management of negative thoughts, emotion regulation, and social confidence. Through this approach, SMILE seeks to prevent the onset or worsening of mental health conditions like depression and anxiety in adolescents and young adults. SMILE’s innovative tool, the Open Knowledge Platform (OKP), is designed to improve practices in building resilience, enhancing social competence, and developing coping strategies.

SMILE validates its digital tools and services through strategic case studies conducted across seven European countries: Cyprus, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. This international, multicentric proof-of-concept study targets adolescents across three age groups: early adolescence (10-14), middle adolescence (15-19), and late adolescence (20-24). The study includes participants ranging from those non-affected by mental health issues to those vulnerable or experiencing psychological distress.

This section highlights the pilot sites and case studies that aim to reach TRL 7 – the stage of a „demonstrated prototype“ – where SMILE’s gamified interventions will be tested and validated to promote adolescent mental health across these countries.

CYPRUS

CIP has an ongoing collaboration with many schools and universities in Cyprus and has been tirelessly working to inspire and transform communities by endowing young people and citizens with innovative tools and comprehensive solutions.

Recruitement: Youth aged 10-17 and teachers will be recruited from primary and secondary public and private schools across the country. Adults aged 18-24 and parents will be recruited through an advertisement in social media.

Methodology: A participatory approach inviting children, adolescents, young adults, their parents, as well as teachers and healthcare professionals to actively contribute to the development, optimisation, and finalisation of the SMILE digital solutions. The qualitative data collected is analysed using rigorous scientific methods, such as thematic analysis, as recommended by experts in the field. This collaborative process ensured that the SMILE digital solutions was refined based on diverse insights and real-world experiences.

Progress: Six focus groups were organised, engaging a diverse range of participants including children, adolescents, young adults, parents, teachers, and clinicians. In addition, we held workshops with three distinct youth age groups—10-14, 15-19, and 20-24 years old—to gather feedback on the game’s design and objectives.

Key Findings: Coming soon.

Impact: Coming soon.

Challenges and Lessons Learnt: Coming soon.

GERMANY

Heidelberg University Hospital with its 44 specialised clinical departments is one of the leading medical centres in Europe. It is constantly developing new methods of diagnosis and treatment at the forefront of biomedical science for the benefit of all patients. The hospital has a state of the art ICT infrastructure also including telemedicine technologies and ICT disease management solutions. The Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics is one of the few psychosomatic departments in Germany that is simultaneously integrated into an Internistic Medical Clinic and a Center for Psychosocial Medicine. Here we offer a broad spectrum of inpatient and outpatient services. The Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry offers guideline-oriented and evidence-based diagnostics and therapies for the disease patterns of the entire spectrum of child and adolescent psychiatry.

Recruitement: Participants for the pilot studies will be recruited in schools and universities. Any interested schools who might want to become a “SMILE-school”: feel invited to contact our team.

Methodology: A participatory approach is adopted, by inviting children, adolescents, young adults and their families, teachers and health professionals to contribute to the building and elaboration of the Knowledge base and the SMILE game. All material is analysed by means of scientific methods and an inductive content analysis was carried out.

Progress: Six focus groups with children, adolescents and young adults, parents, teachers and clinicians have been organised successfully. Moreover, we invited two age groups to workshops to get feedback to the game design and its goals. We presented first results of a qualitative analysis of the focus groups with young people at the Congress of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Rostock and we are proud of being rewarded for the poster presentation of our team.

Key Findings: Coming soon.

Impact: Coming soon.

Challenges and Lessons Learnt: Coming soon.

ITALY

IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna (IRCCS-AOUBO): Founded in 1592 in Bologna, St. Orsola University Hospital (Policlinico di Sant’Orsola) was the first hospital in Bologna and today hosts the School of Medicine and Surgery of the Bologna University – Alma mater studiorum.  The present Hospital is divided in 27 pavilions over 1.8 Km in length, organised into 9 Departments, including 87 operative Units, in the center of the City. The Hospital is equipped with 1,515 beds and staffed with 6,807 employers, taking care of approximately 49,000 inpatients and 3,300,000 outpatients yearly. The workforce includes 551 researchers, participating to 502 active clinical trials with more than 22,500 patients enrolled. In 2020 St.Orsola Hospital was recognised by the Italian Ministry of Health – Ministerial Decree, 19 September 2020 –  as IRCCS (Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico), identifying biomedical institutions of relevant national interest. IRCCS AOUBO has more than 60 disease’s registries and different datasets for clinical trials and observational studies. It is involved in EU projects H2020 and H2021-2027 .

The University of Bologna (UniBo): Founded in 1088, which makes it the oldest University in the Western world. Over its nine centuries of history, it has grown significantly and is now the chosen university of over 90,000 students from all over the world. The University of Bologna aspires to make a relevant contribution to the common good through direct involvement in the co-creation of value with its community and society as a whole: this, along with the city’s cultural views, encourages the students in being vocal about their beliefs and needs, actively shaping the world around them.

Recruitement: Participants will primarily be recruited from primary and secondary schools within the Bologna district to include individuals either at risk for mental disorders (to be identified through the game) or as healthy controls. We will collaborate closely with the school-based mental health services in the district of Bologna, in partnership with the University of Bologna (UNIBO) and the local educational system.

• Additional participants will be recruited through networks within the Nursing and Medical faculties of IRCCS AOUBO.
• Adolescents will be invited to participate in the study via classroom announcements and through community-based organisations that engage students from the participating schools.
• IRCCS AOUBO will lead stakeholder engagement strategies, and given the dynamic nature of these activities, additional recruitment strategies will be co-developed with stakeholders.

To increase awareness of the SMILE project and engage target groups, surveys have been disseminated through social media channels, helping to involve stakeholders and broaden outreach efforts.

Methodology: A participatory approach is adopted by inviting stakeholders to contribute to the building and elaboration of the Knowledge base and the SMILE game and their refinement process. All material is analysed by means of scientific methods ( mixed-methods) and an inductive content analysis was carried out.

Progress: Five focus groups were conducted involving children, adolescents, young adults, parents, and teachers. IRCCS-AOUBO also participated in the recent Open Living Lab Days event in Timișoara, alongside other SMILE project partners, INTRAS and the University of Manchester (UoM). During the event, we led a workshop titled „Game On: Crafting Future-Ready Mental Health Solutions with and for Young Minds“, where we presented the first tangible results of the SMILE project. The workshop received positive feedback from the attendees.

Key Findings: Coming soon.

Impact: Coming soon.

Challenges and Lessons Learnt: Coming soon.

POLAND

SLOVENIA

SPAIN

INTRAS is the provider of social and health services in Mental Health in the Castilla y León region working in coordination with the social and healthcare systems, with a community approach and focus on life/life recovery projects. INTRAS has permanent collaboration with the Educational Regional Ministry in the provision of educational, training and vocational services provision.

Recruitement: Participants from 18-24 years group will be students from the Valladolid University or Students from Technical Courses (non-academic) with which INTRAS has already running partnerships. Moreover, INTRAS has also ongoing collaborations with Colleges and Institutes (primary and secondary schools in the Castilla y León Region, Spain), which will aid the recruitment of participants aged 10-13 and 14-17 years.

Methodology: We will recruit participants for the pilot studies in schools and universities. Any interested schools who might want to become a “SMILE-school”: feel invited to contact our team.

Progress: In this project, we adopt a participatory approach and invite children, adolescents, young adults and their families, teachers and health professionals to collaborate in the definition, development and validation of the Knowledge base and the SMILE tools. Material is created and analysed by means of living lab based methodology, inductive content analysis and other scientific methods.

Key Findings: Coming soon.

Impact: Coming soon.

Challenges and Lessons Learnt: Coming soon.

UNITED KINGDOM

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As the SMILE project progresses, this section will be updated with detailed information on each pilot site’s case study, including the specific gamified interventions being tested, participant recruitment progress, and any relevant findings.