Markant investment program: EUR 21 million for child psychology!

Markant investment program: EUR 21 million for child psychology!

Österreich, Land - The finance minister Martbauer has focused on the mental health of children and adolescents in his current budget speech. From 2026, 21 million euros are available annually for psychosocial health services as part of the “Healthy from the Crisis” project. This project, which started in 2022, has since supported over 43,000 clients: the inside and is described as a model of success by Federal Minister Korinna Schumann because it offers unbureaucratic and professional help. Nevertheless, the situation looks challenging, since from January 2025 there was no new client due to financial reasons: inside and now there are over 5,600 children and adolescents on the waiting list.

"Healthy from the crisis" offers 15 free units for specialized specialists for children and adolescents aged 0 to 21. The meetings are designed close to home and low -threshold to make access to help to help. The project is financed by the Federal Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection and handled by professional associations, with total funding of 54.7 million euros by June 2025.

mental health and challenges

The latest reports show the urgency of the problem. According to a report by UNICEF, Austria internationally only ranks 12 out of 39 countries in the well -being of children, although there is a need to catch up, especially in the areas of mental and physical health. Mental health is particularly under pressure: the point prevalence of mental illness in children and adolescents is at least 15%worldwide, and in Austria even 23.9%. Experts demand preventive and realistic offers to avoid chronic psychological problems.

A study by the University of Innsbruck proves that 95 percent of the client: on the inside of "healthy out of the crisis" progress made progress, 55 percent made good to very good progress. At the same time, however, waiting times have doubled for therapy places, and health, school and youth welfare systems are overloaded. This condition has been intensified by the Covid 19 pandemic, since many young people are confronted with new worries such as the Ukraine decline and the climate crisis.

necessities for the future

The solution could be in an expanded approach to mental health. It is of central importance to invest in health care for children and adolescents. Recommendations that are formulated in different reports include the expansion of school psychologists and the introduction of the topic "mental health" in the curriculum. In some cases, data also indicate that climate fear of many young people and affects psychosocial well -being.

Overall, the data and conclusions of various studies show, the adolescence is a particularly vulnerable life phase. Girls are particularly affected here: their emotional health is strongly shaped by increasing depressive moods. The path to better psychosocial care in Austria leads to low -threshold offers and increased prevention measures that respond to the reality of young people.

summarized it is shown that the challenges in the field of mental health are enormous for children and adolescents. It is crucial that measures are taken on both political and social levels to cope with the current crisis and to sustainably improve the quality of life of young people. ots.at , aerzteblatt.de pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov