Kailo ——
Project title
Innovation Hub / Partnership
Intergenerational Mental Health
Project partners
- University College London (UCL) Partners – funders
- Citizens UK
- Holborn Community Association
Project dates
March 2025–August 2026
Project description
Kailo is an equitable research and co-production project that supports young people to explore and act on the local, nonclinical factors influencing their mental health. The Kailo approach moves systematically from broad insightgathering to deeper, targeted codesign.
The Camden partnership is testing and adapting the Kailo framework with younger adolescents (13–15), using creative arts as an engaging route into systems thinking and coproduction. Camden test-site activity will be evaluated by UCL in terms of structural fidelity, equitable co-design principles, and population-level outcomes. Following evidence review and boroughwide engagement, young people have selected ‘belonging’ as the priority theme.
We are now working with the Small Circle phase of intensive, sustained co-production with a group of 8–15 children, working with a local arts organisation as our community partner.
Key achievements so far
Since we launched in June 2025:
- Rapid review of local evidence, including research, evaluations and previous engagement findings
- Engagement with professionals across the system (community, statutory, health and education) to understand perceived pressures on young people, and opportunities for change
- A cross-borough engagement workshops with multiple youth groups especially in high-priority neighbourhoods. Co-produced sessions led by a community engagement specialist, asking young people what makes them feel ‘glad, sad or mad’ in their local area.
- Synthesis of all findings
- Prioritisation event, where 26 young people and community partners assessed potential impact areas and identified where there was energy, influence and feasibility for change.
- The Small Circle (a group of 8–15 Year 9 and 10 children, hosted by our Community Partner Holborn Community Association) will spend 3 months applying the Kailo framework to the theme of belonging: understanding the issue, mapping the system, identifying levers, generating and prioritising ideas, and designing a locally actionable intervention.
- A ‘Big Circle’ of stakeholders will support the co-production with advice on system dynamics and help embed the final intervention into local practice.
Upcoming milestones
July 2026 – Small circle sessions end
September 2026 – Event to share results of small circle with stakeholders
Useful links (reports, resources, press releases)
Kailo update for strategy group 13 January 2026 Powerpoint — summary of project process and findings up to small circle stage.
Kailo Prioritisation Event Report Final January 2026 PDF document — insights from young people at the prioritisation event.