Promoting well-being among adolescents: Exploring the added value of a systemic design approach

Abstract

75% of all mental health issues arise between the ages of 14 and 25 (Kessler et al., 2005). Suicide is the number one cause of death among young people (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, 2023), one in three adolescents experiences performance pressure (Kleinjan et al., 2020), one in seven adolescents has depressive symptoms (Kleinjan et al., 2020) and life satisfaction has decreased significantly over the past 20 years (Kleinjan et al., 2020). All of these statistics show one thing: a lot of adolescents have poor mental health and they seek more professional help because of it. However, youth care cannot handle this increased demand. This combination leads to problems and therefore a new approach is needed. In my project, I used a systemic design approach and focused on promoting well-being instead of only fixing mental health issues. Accordingly, the main research question in my project is:

“How can the systemic design approach contribute to improving well-being among adolescents (ages 16-18)?”

I used a systemic design approach to look at the larger system around adolescents to find new opportunities for possible interventions. I interviewed a lot of different stakeholders and explored their perspectives and their interactions with other stakeholders. I processed these insights into a giga-map, which helped me formulate three themes and eventually choose one theme: ‘Who is responsible’. This theme deals with a social norm where parents are held responsible for the upbringing and well-being of their children, whereas adolescents at this age distance themselves from their parents and need other adult support figures (McElhaney et al., 2009). In addition, the support adolescents receive in this system depends on individual motivation: some people recognize their role, others do not. From this theme and all the insights from the stakeholder sessions, I formulated a future vision which is represented by this African proverb:

“It takes a village to raise a child”

The shift needed to achieve this future is from scattered islands to a connected proverbial village. To achieve this, I chose teachers' mental models as a leverage point (Meadows, 1999). By showing teachers the value of their role, the value of promoting well-being and the value of connections, I hope they will also change their behaviour. From that goal, I designed my intervention OmDraaien, where three teachers are each given a role: a teacher, a parent and an adolescent. They play an interactive game in which they play a scenario and interact with ropes (connection pieces) that represent their relationships. After this interactive game, the participants reflect on the game they just played and relate it to their own work.

To shortly answer my research question, a systemic design approach has helped me to look at the broader system around adolescents and has therefore helped to create not only stakeholder value, but also potential systemic value. In addition, a systemic design approach has allowed me to discover an underlying problem: stakeholders focus just on symptomatic solutions rather than also on fundamental solutions.