Background: Practitioners and decision-makers in the area of child and adolescent mental health are in great need of information about available evidence based interventions for treatment, prevention and mental health promotion. The Norwegian web-site Ungsinn (Youngmind) has been developed to facilitate easy access to information about interventions and their knowledge base. The website was developed upon request from the Norwegian Directorate of Health. The purpose of this presentation is to present the aims and structure of the Ungsinn website as well as the criteria for classification of interventions. Communicating evidence: Each intervention on the site is presented by a description followed by a classification of evidence level. A review of existing research with emphasis of effect studies is an important part both of the description and serve as a basis for the classification. The database ‘Ungsinn’ aims both to give practitioners new knowledge, but also to stimulate to more research. Evidence may include a wide range of research designs and methods, not only the RCT studies. The criteria for classification in Ungsinn are built as a ‘bottom—top model’. This means that the criteria for inclusion at the lowest level of evidence are fairly simple and will include interventions with potential for being effective. By conducting further research; interventions can climb up the ladder of evidence, and receive a higher ranking. The top level of evidence reflects the most desirable research design to ensure intervention effectiveness. A total of 35 interventions have so far been described and rated in ‘Ungsinn’.


Conclusions: Ungsinn seeks to reach the goal of contributing to improved services to children and their families by simplifying access to knowledge, stimulating to more research on interventions, and by highlighting areas in need of more evidence.