Beyond Borders: What Indonesia’s ‘Connect to Care’ Programme Can Teach UK Schools About Mental Health

At Minds Ahead, we believe that improving mental health in schools is a global mission. While every education system has its own context, the core challenge is the same: how can we equip schools to become truly mentally healthy spaces for all children and staff?

A recent blog on the Mental Health Innovation Network introduced us to a remarkable example of this challenge being met head-on, in Indonesia. The Connect to Care School-Based Mental Health (SBMH) programme, developed in Yogyakarta, is a whole-school mental health initiative that speaks powerfully to the international moment we’re in.

The backdrop is urgent: over 15.5 million Indonesian teenagers are experiencing mental health difficulties, with the highest prevalence among 15–24-year-olds. The causes are complex — from family breakdown to rising social pressures – but the response has been courageous, community-rooted, and strategic.

Key Insights for UK Schools

What makes Connect to Care so compelling isn’t just its ambition – it’s how it’s being delivered. Here are four lessons we believe UK schools and policymakers can take from their approach:

1. Mental health must live in the culture, not just the curriculum

Rather than delivering one-off sessions, Connect to Care weaves mental health into school policies, relationships, and routines. It becomes part of how the school breathes — much like safeguarding or behaviour policies — not an add-on.

UK parallel: Whole-school mental health should be everyone’s job, not one person’s responsibility.

2. Family inclusion is not optional

Connect to Care places a strong emphasis on involving parents and families, recognising that sustainable wellbeing cannot be achieved in isolation from home life. Film screenings, podcast discussions, and open forums help bridge this gap.

UK parallel: We still see a disconnect between school and family when it comes to mental health. This model shows how to close that gap.

3. Student voice and peer support matter

Indonesia’s model centres peer counsellors (PIK-R) as a first line of support, recognising that young people often turn to each other before turning to adults. This is systematised within a referral framework.

UK parallel: Peer mentoring is underused in many schools. When embedded well, it’s a powerful tool for early intervention and empowerment.

4. Creative, culturally relevant engagement reduces stigma

Rather than relying only on traditional mental health education, Connect to Care embraces art-based dialogue, digital campaigns, and film to make mental health visible, relatable, and safe to talk about.

UK parallel: As we diversify mental health provision, we must also diversify how we talk about it, especially for marginalised communities.

Learning, Together

At Minds Ahead, we’re proud to be supporting UK schools through our School Mental Health Qualifications Framework, which provides structured, accredited development pathways for staff at every level. Like Connect to Care, we believe in system-wide, not tokenistic change, and in building schools where staff and students alike can thrive.

It’s encouraging to see these values being lived in other parts of the world — and it challenges all of us in the UK to keep pushing further.