Towards stepped-care in Germany

Mental health and wellbeing in growing up is at stake - not only since the Covid19-pandemic. We are increasingly aware of the mental health crisis in growing up: What needs to be done? Effective starting points lie in prevention and the systematic establishment of early interventions. These include better support and care in acute crisis situations, allowing for self-help and continuous destigmatization.

krisenchat was born out of this idea during the Covid-19 lockdown and has grown into a social enterprise with a broad reach over the past five years. The anonymous and digital chat advice service offers young people low-threshold and professional help 24/7 - free of charge, at any time and from anywhere. In addition to the direct counseling service, krisenchat offers a wide range of content on various social media channels to strengthen the psychosocial health and self-efficacy of young people.

Providing care in crisis situations through preventative advice and targeted referrals to local support services is a central element of the organizational strategy. At the same time, krisenchat uses learnings from its operations to provide targeted impulses for changes in the healthcare system. It does so in cooperation with stakeholders from healthcare, social welfare and education to enable better care for everyone in the long term.

As alv, we are convinced by the potential to create a new standard of support and care - close to lived reality and digitally available. All analysis shows us that it is important not to be and feel alone and to get the right help easily. This is where krisenchat comes in. They do not stop there but ask: How do we shape support structures in a way that young people know about resilience factors and how to strengthen them?
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Key facts:

- Duration: 2025 - 2028

- Location: nationwide in Germany