The Wellcome Data Prize in Mental Health supports teams based in the UK and South Africa to explore existing datasets and find new insights and build digital tools that enable future research.
Social Finance supported the design and running of the data prize, bringing our experience of engaging and including people with lived experience in different stages of project design and implementation.
Millions of young people worldwide are affected by poor mental health. Anxiety and depression often starts early in a person’s life and can have debilitating consequences, which makes early intervention key.
The Wellcome Data Prize in Mental Health aims to generate tangible and scalable outputs that support the mental health research community. The overarching question for the data prize is: What are the ‘active ingredients’ that make a difference in preventing, treating, and managing anxiety and depression in young people? What works, for whom, in what contexts, and why?
Applications to the prize closed in April 2022.
Our work on the prize has seen us return to the management and administrative work that we’ve done in the past when managing outcome funds, and working with a unique partner like the Wellcome Trust has brought its own new experience. The project has required Wellcome’s team to work in an Agile fashion and has been a fantastic opportunity to bring in knowledge from across our Data + Digital Labs and International teams.
During the design phase we worked alongside our Youth Advisory Network (YAN) to develop the plan, goals, and parameters of the prize. We also included two people from the YAN in our selection panel to ensure people with lived experience were embedded every step of the way.
We continue to work alongside the Wellcome Trust to support participating teams in engaging people with lived experience.
Social Finance developed effective communication and took a considered approach. From the outset, they ensured lived experience involvement throughout the project. They brought a reflective and respectful approach in their engagement with us and other stakeholders, and had a very focused way of working.
The Wellcome Trust
Our work on the data prize has required clear and balanced communication with a variety of stakeholders including Wellcome’s team, the YAN, prospective participants and confirmed teams, sector experts, and the advisory board, amongst others.
We have also helped to build a community of practice across the participating teams. To do so, we have leveraged our communication and event design and planning skills to put together effective spaces for teams to connect with each other. In addition to the support sessions around lived experience engagement mentioned above, we have run three networking events for participants, taking advantage of the facilitation skills our teams have to provide varied engaging opportunities for discussion, reflection, and socialisation.
The ten teams selected to progress into the Discovery phase were announced in June 2022. Below are some details about where they’re from and what they are working on.
Developing a counterfactual analysis digital tool to illuminate active ingredients in mental health.
Developing a rapid AI-based policy probing and observational research tool
Understanding the role of secondary school environments and policies as drivers of school connectedness to prevent anxiety and depression
Mental health trajectories following pharmacological and psychological treatment
The impact of stop and search on young Black people’s mental health
Mental health researchers in discovering active ingredients in longitudinal datasets using artificial intelligence (MHR-DAIDAI)
The Home Office is investing £53 million over four years to expand the Drive Project, an evidence-based intervention for high-risk high-harm perpetrators of domestic abuse.
A pioneering initiative to unlock the potential of longitudinal qualitative data for mental health research – supported by Social Finance.
Social Finance’s essential role in ensuring the fidelity of IPS employment services for people with severe mental illness
