Mental health is becoming a key measure of what people expect from modern healthcare, according to new research from Semble, released to mark Mental Health Awareness Week.
The survey of 1,000 UK residents, who were asked about their expectations for healthcare in the year ahead, revealed that over a third (38%) expect their healthcare provider to offer proactive mental health check-ins - a routine, provider-initiated conversation to assess a person’s emotional wellbeing and identify concerns early. This signals growing expectations for earlier support, regular engagement and more preventative models of care.
Mental health support no longer a ‘nice to have’
Those expectations are not limited to clinical settings. As mental health becomes a more central part of how people define good care, access to support is also influencing what they expect from employers and workplace health benefits. More than half (56%) of under-30s say mental health support is the most valued workplace healthcare benefit, compared to 37% of those aged 51+, pointing to a clear generational shift.
Almost half (47%) of respondents say access to support would influence their decision to join or stay with an employer, reinforcing how expectations of care now extend beyond the clinic into everyday environments, including the workplace.
This suggests patients are looking for more readily available and responsive support, particularly when traditional care pathways can feel difficult or slow to access at the point they need it most.
Dr Daniel Masud, Consultant General Adult & Addiction Psychiatrist and Co-founder of MIRACOURT, commented: “It’s not only the timing of when patients seek help that’s shifting, but also how they interpret and understand their own mental health. We’re seeing that people recognise early warning signs sooner and act on them, rather than waiting until symptoms become unmanageable. That shift is clinically significant, because earlier intervention is where outcomes improve most. The challenge now is that services are still largely designed around crisis rather than prevention and that’s what needs to adapt.”
Mental health expectations signal proactive care evolution
The shift in expectations is not limited to mental health. Across the board, patients are increasingly seeking more proactive and digitally enabled care. Over half (54%) of respondents expect increased access to preventative screenings, while 68% expect test results and follow-ups to be fully digital this year.
Fifty percent also expect providers to proactively interpret their health data - rising to 63% among under-30s. This reinforces the growing demand for care that is not only accessible, but continuous and coordinated across the patient journey.
Christoph Lippuner, co-founder and CEO at Semble, commented: “Patients increasingly expect care to be more proactive. Meeting that expectation means identifying needs earlier, embedding check-ins into routine care and ensuring support is continuous rather than episodic. For providers, the opportunity is to create more connected patient experiences, where data, communication and care delivery are joined up. That’s what enables earlier intervention, more consistent support and ultimately better outcomes at scale.”