Across the globe, a silent crisis is growing. Rates of mental illness, loneliness, and social distress are climbing, and our formal systems are struggling to keep up. But while governments and healthcare providers search for large-scale solutions, some of the most effective answers are emerging from an unexpected place: the community itself.

For a glimpse of what’s possible, Nordic Wellbeing Academy organised a study visit for 12 Estonian healthcare professionals in November 2025. One of the organisations visited was AskovFonden, a Danish civil society organization dedicated to developing social solutions for marginalised and vulnerable people. They run five core programmes (for domestic violence, eating disorders, social psychiatry, special education schools and youth) and have, since 1943, supported over 2,000 people annually through these initiatives.

Here, we are sharing the most surprising and impactful lessons from their decades of work on the front lines of social and mental health support. What they’ve learned challenges our most common assumptions and offers a powerful blueprint for a more human way forward.

To stop domestic violence, start with the people who cause it

“When we think of intervening in domestic violence, our focus naturally goes to the victim,” says Annika Svensson, who is Head of Knowledge and Documentation at AskovFonden. The foundation takes a different approach: they start with the perpetrator—revealing truths that challenge common assumptions.

Most importantly, many perpetrators were themselves exposed to childhood violence and now struggle with deep personal distress. This leads AskovFonden to question the instinct to immediately separate couples. As Annika explains: “No one wants to hit the one they love… So if you take the stand that you should separate them, we actually create more trauma because they want to be together.” Perpetrators also come from every background, not a single ‘type’. As Annika notes: “It’s not the bulky tattooed guys coming here. Not at all. It’s everyone.”

By focusing on the roots of violence rather than judgement, AskovFonden aims to break generational cycles and stop the violence for good.

Loneliness is more expensive than smoking and bad nutrition 

The numbers are staggering: loneliness costs Denmark 8 billion DKK  a year (source). To put that in perspective, the organisation’s research found a shocking truth: Loneliness is more expensive than smoking and eating badly. It is a massive factor in mental distress, a majority of people who come to AskovFonden’s social psychiatry programmes live alone.

Their solution is deceptively simple but incredibly powerful. The community centers are open 365 days a year, specifically because loneliness is most severe when the rest of the world is closed, i.e. on weekends and holidays. This provides a crucial lifeline, a place of belonging when people need it most. The results speak for themselves: 69% of participants report feeling less lonely, and 92% have successfully built a more stabile everyday life.This highlights a fundamental blind spot in our public health infrastructure. We focus on clinical treatments and individual therapies while often overlooking one of the most basic human needs: a place to belong.

To treat an eating disorder, find a “normal” roommate

AskovFonden’s rehabilitation programme for people with eating disorders is a brilliant example of social design. Instead of a purely clinical environment, they have apartments where clients live with a roommate who has a “normal” relationship with food.

The rules are strict and clear; the roommates’ only job is to live their life. The purpose is for the client to mirror the everyday patterns of another young person: to see them eat candy without guilt, share a fridge, and live without the rigid rituals that define the disorder. 

Typically, people who need to develop skills to live more independently live in shared housing. This is well suited for those who are ready to train social skills in relation to people without eating disorders. The students share the apartment with someone who does not have and has not had an eating disorder. They do not have a treatment role and are therefore not studying health or social work such as psychology, nutrition or social counseling.

This approach doesn’t replace formal therapy; it complements it. By immersing clients in a natural, non-clinical setting, it helps them re-learn what a normal relationship with food and life looks like. It uses the power of social mirroring to gently guide them back toward health, tackling a deeply psychological and isolating illness with the simple power of shared, everyday experience.

A radical return to community

The thread connecting all of Askov Fonden’s successes is a deeply human, community-first philosophy. Their work doesn’t seek to replace the formal system but to fill the critical gaps where that system so often fails. They succeed by being radically accessible and responsive. As Annika puts it, “We are not the system… We take the phone when they call.” As our societies face growing crises of isolation and mental distress, what if the most innovative solution isn’t a new technology or policy, but a simple, radical return to community?

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