Lay summary
Young people are facing frustrating delays in accessing mental health services, and the available resources fall short of the demand. Prolonged wait times lead to more distress, dissatisfaction, and safety concerns. Surprisingly, to date little attention has been paid to helping during this critical waiting period. Our proposal aims to tackle this issue by creating a scalable and timely digital intervention to support youth seeking and waiting for psychological treatment. We will work with mental health clinicians and young individuals to understand their ‘needs and wants’ regarding the kind of support to improve the wait-list period. We will develop a prototype digital intervention and pilot it to assess its feasibility and acceptability. We will seek ways in which it can be enhanced and scaled up to offer relevant and safe mental health support for young people waiting for services.