Engaging those with deep lived understanding of mental health problems and navigating the system of supports helps to ensure meaningful service improvements. Further, involving student and families from communities that are historically and presently marginalized or underrepresented in decision-making about mental health services helps to build more inclusive schools that benefit every student and family.
Collaboration with students, parents/caregivers and community partners helps to ensure that mental health initiatives that are selected and introduced in schools are relevant, supportive, accessible and culturally responsive.
Involving parents/caregivers and communities ensures that supports and services are comprehensive and that they consider the mental health and well-being of the whole student. Community partners can help to ensure coordinated approaches to mental health support for students.
Considerations and approaches
- Start engagement and collaboration efforts with the understanding that they will require effort, time, humility and authenticity to create respectful and trusting relationships.
- Be open to different approaches, timelines and paces.
- Focus on diverse, representative and widespread collaboration with staff, students, parents/caregivers and community members, including those with lived experience related to mental health and the service system. Review who is, and who is not, at the table before beginning the work and adjust membership accordingly.
- Work alongside to create supportive environments that disrupt and remove barriers to participation (e.g., offering transportation or childcare, meeting at different times or locations other than the school, providing meals, offering materials in various languages).
- Make engagement efforts routine (not a one-time offering) and use co-created group guidelines to facilitate collaborative conversations and shared decision-making within each engagement opportunity.
- Gather feedback on engagement and collaboration efforts and work to improve processes
- When planning consultation or collaboration, remember that involvement should be meaningful – there should be real opportunities for influence. Be sure to report back following any consultations so participants know what actions have resulted from what was shared – or if nothing is happening, why not.
- Follow a listen-and-acknowledge commitment. Actively listen to participants’ stories and experiences and acknowledge their perspectives. Stories are valuable and powerful contributions.
- Provide workshops and tip sheets for participants that connect to your school’s mental health action plan.
- Ensure leadership commitment is in place to support the sustainability and impact of engagement efforts. Ongoing support from school and system leaders helps to embed collaboration within school priorities, allocate necessary resources and maintain engagement over time.
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