Young people across Australia struggling to find mental health support in an overstretched system will soon have access to life-changing support via their smartphone, thanks to major funding from the Australian government to open up nationwide access to Orygen's ground-breaking mental health service MOST.
MOST is Orygen Digital's multi-award winning, evidence-based digital mental health service, and is now used in over 400 Australian youth mental health clinics, supporting more than 13,000 young people since its launch in 2020.
Following the success of MOST – which has been developed over 12 years of research and trials, and has been available through select mental health services – the Federal Government has committed $4.6 million over three years to roll out free access to all young people aged 12-25 across Australia.
Chief of Orygen Digital, Professor Mario Alvarez-Jimenez, said opening up direct access to MOST was filling a substantial gap in mental health services, providing free, professional mental health support to young people when they need it most.
“By opening up access to MOST's world-class service to all young people across all states and territories we're making it so much easier for people to get effective services on-demand,” Professor Alverez-Jimenez said.
“MOST offers one-on-one professional, human support, access to peer workers, self-directed therapy and a safe, moderated social network where young people can connect and share.
“We know that many young people struggle to access the services they need, or find themselves on long waiting lists, but MOST can support them before, during and after they access other types of care.”
Research shows that MOST is highly effective:
- MOST users experienced a significant reduction of depression and anxiety after just 12 weeks
- Of nearly 1500 users surveyed, 93 per cent said they would recommend MOST to others
- 55 per cent of MOST users were still active at six weeks (compared to only 3 per cent using popular commercially available mental health apps)
Professor Alvarez-Jimenez said MOST is a true example of Orygen's world-leading research and knowledge translation.
“We've brought together the very best of human support and the best of tech and social media to create this digital service, a mental health support young people can actually hold in their hands,” he said.
“There are many mental health apps out there, but the research has shown that MOST is not only effective, but has remarkable levels of engagement – with 93 per cent of young people saying they would recommend the service to a friend.
“With an escalating youth mental health crisis, and health services struggling to meet demand, MOST can deliver complementary, engaging, and effective support to young people at whatever stage they're at.”
MOST was co-designed with young people, mental health professionals, researchers and software developers over a period of 12 years, and initially launched in 2020 through participating mental health services.