Iceland has launched a nationwide digital service enabling parents of children as young as five to seek mental health support for anxiety without referrals, demonstrating a scalable model for faster, accessible care within primary health services.
Iceland has moved a step closer to making child mental health support easier to reach, after rolling out a national digital service that lets parents seek help for anxiety in children as young as five without first securing a referral.
The programme, called Online Support and Intervention for Child Anxiety, or OSI, began in September 2025 and is now available across the country. According to the report in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, parents of children aged five to twelve can complete an online screening and, if needed, move on to a brief consultation with a clinical psychologist working within primary care.
By May 2026, 380 families had used the self-referral route, and 342 of them screened above the clinical threshold for probable anxiety. Of those, 204 families started the intervention itself, suggesting that the system is reaching children with clear need while reducing the usual delays and barriers that often come with traditional referral pathways.
The Icelandic model is notable not just for its scale but for how it has been built into existing services. Rather than operating as a separate app or stand-alone platform, the digital pathway sits inside primary care, where psychologists already work. That structure keeps professional oversight in place while making access less dependent on gatekeepers such as doctors or schools.
Researchers behind the rollout say referrals rose by 70% over six months as awareness grew and clinical capacity expanded. They argue that the project shows how a simple self-referral process, combined with a short screening tool and clinician follow-up, can connect families with genuine anxiety concerns to treatment more efficiently.
The study also underlines how much infrastructure is needed to make a national digital service work. Iceland’s rollout required coordination across seven health institutions, along with investment in technology, cyber security, staff training and data protection. The authors caution that the model will not transfer neatly to every country, given differences in funding, regulation and workforce design.
But the experience may still offer useful lessons for other health systems, particularly those struggling with long waits for child and adolescent mental health care. Reykjavík University has separately launched FLIKK, another digital therapy programme for anxious children, reflecting a wider effort in Iceland to use online, parent-led support to widen access while keeping treatment grounded in evidence-based care.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
