Brain Health

Helping people across the world achieve the best possible brain health by strengthening cognitive function, improving mental health, and effectively preventing and treating mental, neurological, and substance use disorders

Brain health—a term inclusive of positive mental health and the full range of mental, substance use, and neurological conditions—is a critical determinant of overall health. Regardless of age, income, or geography, brain health materially impacts every person’s life.

Brain health is broader than the absence of disease.1 It includes improving overall cognitive functioning, resilience, and the state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able contribute to his or her community.2

Brain conditions account for a large portion of the global disease burden—a challenge substantially exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis. For example, there’s been a more than 25 percent increase in major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders compared to pre-COVID-19 worldwide.3 Brain health remains one of the least addressed, least resourced health topics.

The McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) addresses brain health challenges globally, such as social norms (including stigma), prevention, early detection, treatment effectiveness, integration of care, and workforce availability—as well as opportunities to further support positive mental health.

Topics to explore

MHI collaborates with leading organizations across sectors to catalyze change in brain health and explore pressing questions, such as:

  • How can we empower employers to support employee mental health and well-being?
  • How can open-access data assets and insights foster collaboration to advance mental well-being?
  • How can we scale evidence-based approaches to promote optimal brain health across the lifespan?

Featured collaborations

We have partner with organizations to develop novel solutions to long-standing problems in brain health.
Kokoro
We are collaborating with Kokoro to convene and activate cross-sectoral leaders to scale mental health innovation through novel public-private-social partnerships and outcomes-based models of financing. Kokoro is a global nonprofit that champions mental health as the foundation for a safer, kinder and more productive world. Kokoro works with a global network of partners and funders, using the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as their core framework of operation. Our collaboration to date has included co-hosting events during the 2023 World Health Assembly and UN General Assembly and joining their Future Mental Health Collective.
Learn more about Kokoro and MHI
The Kennedy Forum
We have partnered with The Kennedy Forum (TKF) to develop a systems map that helps users visualize current and future-state involvement of different stakeholder groups in accessing, providing, paying for, and/or utilizing mental health and substance use services in the United States. As part of The Kennedy Forum’s broader Alignment for Progress agenda, MHI has facilitated a series of executive convenings to engage local and national leaders in designing cross-sectoral approaches to mental health. We have also made an official commitment in support of Alignment for Progress. MHI commits to supporting Alignment for Progress partners on developing a 90-90-90 vision roadmap and to catalyzing equitable cross-system action toward mental health for all.
Learn more about The Kennedy Forum and MHI
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

We worked closely with the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to help develop and deliver a free, web-based, interactive digital curriculum to upskill educators in identifying and supporting youth exposed to traumatic stress. Initial pilots have shown success, and the curriculum is being scaled in the United States with potential opportunities to develop training for other global contexts as well.

Learn more about Cincinnati Children's Hospital and MHI
See all collaborations

Featured impact

Woman looking at blank smart phone screen in the dark at night - stock photo
Preparing for the new 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
The McKinsey Health Institute came together with a group of national- and state-level stakeholders to lay the groundwork for...
The Kennedy Forum
The McKinsey Health Institute joins Alignment for Progress Movement, announces official commitment to advance mental health nationwide
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As part of The Kennedy Forum’s Alignment for Progress initiative, MHI commits to making mental health care equitable and...

Featured Insights

Image of a woman cycling to work in a city.
Article - McKinsey Health Institute
How to achieve great health for all? Start in your city.
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MHI estimates that a focus on immediately influenceable interventions at the city level can add approximately 20 billion to 25 billion years of higher-quality life at a global level.
Two colored ropes knotted together.
Article - McKinsey Health Institute
Reframing employee health: Moving beyond burnout to holistic health
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A new McKinsey Health Institute survey across 30 countries offers insights into how organizations can help create a workplace that prioritizes physical, mental, social, and spiritual health.
Headshot of Jeanette Betancourt
Interview - McKinsey Health Institute
Young children are experiencing trauma: How Sesame Street wants to help
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Sesame Workshop’s Jeanette Betancourt explains what the show and the organization behind it are doing to address trauma and emotional well-being for young children.
Child staring at phone in a dark room
Article - McKinsey Health Institute
Gen Z mental health: The impact of tech and social media
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A new McKinsey Health Institute survey finds that Gen Z’s social media engagement can feel negative but can also help with finding mental health support and connectivity.
Nicole Carroll
Interview
The power of caring adults: Nicole Carroll on overcoming childhood trauma
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USA Today’s top editor discusses mental health, the media’s role and responsibility, and how she draws from her own experiences to make a professional impact.
Headshot of Dixon Chibanda
Interview - McKinsey Health Institute
‘Our vision is a Friendship Bench within walking distance—everywhere’
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Zimbabwe-based psychiatrist Dixon Chibanda shares insights on mental health, the evolution of his community-based Friendship Bench initiative, and why grandmothers make great talk therapists.
Happy multiethnic family enjoying while taking a walk in the backyard
Interactive - McKinsey Health Institute
Prioritizing brain health: Scaling what works to add years to life and life to years
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How many more years can be spent in optimal health if our society viewed mental and substance-use disorders as we do other conditions? The McKinsey Health Institute and the Healthy Brains Global Initiative collaboration sought to answer this question through a series of interactives.
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Article - McKinsey Health Institute
Present company included: Prioritizing mental health and well-being for all
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A McKinsey Health Institute survey across 15 countries highlights how employers can make mental health a reality, especially for young workers.
Close-Up Of Broken Coffee Cup Against Black Background
Podcast - McKinsey Health Institute
Beyond burnout: What helps—and what doesn’t
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Despite leaders’ best efforts, worldwide burnout persists. New research reveals why—and how to help employees begin to thrive again.
Hand planting sprout in soil
Interview - McKinsey Health Institute
Leading with compassion: Prioritizing workplace mental health
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Mental-health advocate Poppy Jaman identifies strategies companies could employ to improve the health and well-being of their workforces.
See all insights

1. Kalpana Srivastava, “Positive mental health and its relationship with resilience,” National Library of Medicine, July 2011
2. “Mental health: strengthening our response,” World Health Organization, Mar 30, 2018
3. “Global prevalence and burden of depressive and anxiety disorders in 204 countries and territories in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” The Lancet, Elsevier, Oct 8, 2021
4. “Global burden of disease database 2019,” Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, The Lancet, Oct 17, 2020
5. Seth Mnookin, et al, “Out of the shadows: making mental health a global development priority,” World Bank Group, World Health Organization, Oct 8, 2015
6. “Premature death among people with severe mental disorders,” World Health Organization, Nov 18, 2015
7. Ronald C Kessler, et al, “Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication,” National Library of Medicine, Jun 2005

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