DECLINE WED-119 - Lessons Learned Applying the Icelandic Prevention Model for Youth Mental Health in Idaho

Brief Abstract Summary: Learn how Communities for Youth (C4Y) is promoting and implementing upstream prevention efforts for youth mental health in Idaho based on the Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM). The IPM focuses on community processes and engagement with a “toolkit approach” to health promotion in which, rather than relying on universal and prescriptive interventions, communities are engaged and empowered to make decisions and take strategic actions in line with their existing strengths and resources. Since 2021, C4Y has worked directly with individual school districts and their surrounding communities to translate and implement the core IPM steps and address youth mental health through primary prevention efforts. We will share our experiences, including valuable lessons from intervention-hesitant communities. We identify and address opportunities and obstacles spanning across the steps of the IPM approach, as well as challenges and recommendations within steps.

Detailed abstract description: Youth in the US are experiencing historically high rates of mental health challenges that require the implementation of comprehensive and effective public health approaches. We established Communities for Youth (C4Y) in Idaho in 2021 to promote and implement upstream prevention for youth mental health based on the Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM). The IPM involves a structured 10 step process that tailors intervention strategies, as well as policy and programmatic activities, to the unique needs of specific communities. Through academic-community partnerships, we work directly with individual school districts and their surrounding communities to cultivate a culture of upstream prevention across multiple sectors and interest holders, and to build each community’s capacity to identify and address the risk and protective factors in the adolescent social environment. In this session, you will learn about C4Y’s translation of the IPM and implementation efforts and experiences in three communities over the past five years, with special attention to the IPM’s second guiding principle, “embracing public schools as a natural hub of community efforts to support youth health, learning, and life success.” Based on our implementation review process, we developed three categories of lessons learned that will be presented. These are: (1) four broad themes that address considerations across multiple steps of the IPM’s process (addressing community readiness, challenges specific to promoting youth mental health, challenges to survey acceptance and consensus, and complexity of community); (2) a list of challenges that occurred within the IPM’s 10 steps and recommendations for addressing them; and (3) a discussion on the advantages, benefits, and preliminary evaluation findings, including population level survey results showing promising trends in decreased youth depression symptoms and suicidal ideation. We will share how the IPM can be a valuable tool for promoting positive youth development and addressing the complex issue of youth mental health, but also how it must be implemented with careful attention to community needs and challenges.