Transferring medical research into practice takes an average of 17 years – and longer to address complex conditions.*
Three significant challenges contribute to this delay in translating mental health research into practice:
1. Highly expert teams working around the globe in their specialist fields have gained important new insights. However, connecting this new knowledge to understand the causal pathways of conditions, such as depression, over the life course is challenging.
2. New scientific understanding provides a foundation for new ideas and innovations. Innovation requires input from a wide range of specialist groups, as well as from young people and their families, to generate effective solutions to mental health conditions.
3. Transferring promising innovations that combine physical and mental health approaches, through trials and regulatory approval, and into widespread practice is a complex process. This potentially requires new approaches to the design of health systems.