141: Communities of Care: An Initiative Evaluation of Collaboratives Supporting Resident and Youth Leadership to Improve Mental Health and Wellbeing for Communities

The Communities of Care Initiative was launched in 2019 by the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health to address upstream factors that impact the mental health and wellbeing of historically excluded communities, with a focus on youth and their families. The 6-year initiative has supported 10 diverse community-based collaboratives in developing strategies for organizational, policy, and systems change that address the connection between the community environment and the wellbeing of community members. Collaborative strategies have been anchored in five core principles, including Imagine One Community, which encourages an inclusive and collaborative decision-making process that is fair and open to all voices. In this paper session, mixed methods, multi-year evaluation findings of data collected from stakeholder interviews and a document review process will present the collaborative structures that honor resident leadership to improve mental wellbeing. Emerging best practices and resources for creating trust and sustaining resident and youth will also be discussed.

Kalia Pannell, MPH – Community Impact & Engagement Specialist, Prevention Institute, Prevention Institute; Dana Fields-Johnson, MPA – Director, Prevention Institute, Prevention Institute