P3.034: Youth Council on Mental Health: Engaging Youth in Mental Health Advocacy Through Programs, Policies, and Research

Background: The youth mental health crisis requires innovative, multi-level solutions in advocacy to improve mental health care and outcomes. Evidence suggests that community engagement, especially engagement of young people, can increase effectiveness and acceptability of health care interventions. Youth advisory councils can play a key role in ensuring that young people are not only viewed as recipients of mental health programs, patient care, and policies, but rather can be advocates and active decision makers in the field. Several frameworks exist to guide youth engagement and participation in advocacy; however, few programs engage youth at multiple levels of mental health advocacy.

Project Description: The Youth Council on Mental Health (YCMH) is a youth-led, adult-supported initiative that engages youth ages 13-19 to drive solutions in mental health programs, patient care, policies, and research. The initiative includes three teams that advocate at different levels of the mental health system and uses engagement strategies based in Hart’s Ladder of Youth Participation. 1) The Patient Experience Team works to improve the experiences of adolescent patients seeking and receiving mental health care in our health system. 2) The Community Action Team works to build mental health awareness, reduce stigma, and promote student well-being through youth-led community-based programs. 3) The Program Innovation Team works to incorporate youth voice in mental health research and state-level youth mental health policies.

Discussion: Our unique Youth Advisory Council applies youth engagement principles to empower young people to advocate for mental health at various levels of the mental health care system— from patient care and community programs to research and state policy. Youth participating in the Youth Council on Mental Health have: 1) advocated for improved patient experience through developing a patient experience questionnaire, 2) provided input on state mental health policies on social media and school cell phone use, 3) participated in guiding research on youth suicide screening, and 4) delivered community-based mental health programs. Youth have also provided input on guiding principles for engaging young people in multi-level mental health advocacy including developing clear goals and expectations for how youth voice will be implemented, providing follow up on what was changed as a result of youth advocacy efforts, and providing the opportunity for youth to learn more about the advocacy process through participation.

Conclusion: Youth engagement in mental health advocacy through youth advisory boards may address the mental health crisis by ensuring that mental health programs, patient care, policies, and research are more effective and relevant to young people. Our approach to youth engagement serves as a model for health systems seeking to increase participation from young people at multiple levels to increase the impact of youth voice.