Abstract
As clinicians at a university-affiliated health centre faced with youth mental health and substance use concerns, we reached out to the local community for guidance. We partnered with community leaders to explore how to best understand the issues and engage with the community. Using a community-engaged research (CEnR) approach, we conducted a needs assessment to explore the issues and inform change. We formalised a partnership with the local school and community board, which led to the creation of a Community Alliance. Our engagement efforts allowed us to understand the community more deeply and establish more effective change. Our most successful outcome was the development of a youth mental health and wellness Action Plan which helped direct our strategies moving forward. This article highlights our community engagement activities, processes and lessons learned, which may be of benefit to other academic researchers and clinicians who are interested in CEnR.
Highlights
IntroductionAs clinicians working in a university-affiliated community health centre in a small urban community in Canada, we encountered increasing rates of undiagnosed mental illness and substance use disorders in our youth
As clinicians at a university-affiliated health centre faced with youth mental health and substance use concerns, we reached out to the local community for guidance
This article highlights our community engagement activities, processes and lessons learned, which may be of benefit to other academic researchers and clinicians who are interested in community-engaged research (CEnR)
Summary
As clinicians working in a university-affiliated community health centre in a small urban community in Canada, we encountered increasing rates of undiagnosed mental illness and substance use disorders in our youth. This was concerning to us, so our health team met to discuss an approach to address these issues and decided that, in order to be effective, we would need to involve the wider community in the development of appropriate strategies (Glandon et al 2017). We were aware of a strong leadership group within the community, so we approached them with the idea of creating a partnership to develop solutions for better supporting these young people using a community-engaged research (CEnR) approach. Community members support each other during times of hardship, for example, by rebuilding a home after a fire, or holding a large fundraising event for a family with an ill loved one
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
