Overview

What is ready4?

ready4 is a modular computational model of the systems that shape young people’s mental health that is being developed as an open source project led by researchers at Orygen and Monash University.

What is a computational model?

A computational model is a simplified representation of a system of interest that is implemented in computer code.

What makes it modular?

The paradigms we use for computational model development allow individual model components (modules) to be independently reused (in other models) and safely and flexibly combined (to model more extensive systems).

How is that achieved?

To facilitate interoperability between modules developed by multiple modelling teams, we have defined a framework for model development that comprises a set of explicit standards and the software (currently, written in R) to implement modules that adhere to those standards.

Why is that useful?

Modelling youth mental health systems is a complex task - that means it is easy to make mistakes and is more likely to be done well if models are implemented to be accountable, reusable and updatable. We hope that ready4 will support these goals and in so doing help to share data, improve the replicability and transferability of modelling analyses and generate valuable insights for youth mental health policymakers and system planners.

Who is it for?

ready4 is designed to be primarily used by coders, modellers and planners, working collaboratively on computational modelling projects in which other stakeholders such as funders, researchers and young people make essential contributions.

Can I use it?

ready4 is free for you to assess (to verify and validate), apply (to generate novel insights into decision problems of interest to you) and to derive your own derivative works from (to leverage and enhance the work of others) under liberal terms of use.

Can I help?

ready4 is a collaborative project and we’d love your help in progressing our priorty project goals! You can help fund our development, contribute code improvements, enhance our documentation and community support, give us advice and/or lead a modelling project.

Why is it called ready4?

ready4 is shorthand for “readyforwhatsnext”, the title of the research project that catalysed this model and a reference to both how good mental health can equip young people for better lives and how computational models can improve the preparedness of decision makers and system planners.

Where should I go next?

We’d recommend reading the documentation in the order in which sections appear in the table of contents (so go next to Examples, then to Getting started and so on).