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Evaluation ViewAttendees 6

Dissemination & Implementation Science
Symposia

Symposium 64 - Reimagining the research-practice gap—Cocreating mental health research and practice through community partnerships across settings in Philadelphia

Saturday, November 16, 2024
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EST
Location: 305/306, Level 3, Downtown Marriott
CE: 1.5

Keywords: Implementation, Community-Based, Evidence-Based Practice
Level of Familiarity: Moderate
Recommended Readings: Becker-Haimes, E. M., Hernandez Rodriguez, J., & Wolk, C. B. (2023). Implementation of evidence-based treatments for child anxiety and related disorders across diverse contexts. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1248996.,   Pellecchia, M., Mandell, D. S., Nuske, H. J., Azad, G., Benjamin Wolk, C., Maddox, B. B., ... & Beidas, R. S. (2018). Community–academic partnerships in implementation research. Journal of community psychology, 46(7), 941-952.,   Greenhalgh, T., Jackson, C., Shaw, S., & Janamian, T. (2016). Achieving Research Impact Through Co-creation in Community-Based Health Services: Literature Review and Case Study. The Milbank quarterly, 94(2), 392–429. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12197,   ,  

Increasingly, implementation scientists recognize that mental health (MH) equity can only be achieved through sustained collaboration and the bidirectional flow of knowledge between researchers and community partners. Researchers benefit from communities' on-the-ground expertise and practice-based evidence and communities benefit from rigorously tested insights from well-designed scientific research. Embracing the co-creation of MH research and practice is necessary to address the U.S.’s pressing population MH challenges and to support the delivery of effective MH interventions to diverse populations. This symposium, which aligns with the convention’s theme to center community engagement, highlights several ways researchers and community partners are working together to strengthen the accessibility, quality, and equity of MH services in Philadelphia. All presenters are engaged in academic-community partnerships in Philadelphia working across multiple settings, clinical presentations, and implementation approaches.

First, we describe a case study of successful community-partnered implementation of exposure therapy for youth. Characteristics of youth in the public setting are underrepresented in clinical trials (i.e., complex, multimorbid MH presentations, racial and ethnic minorities) and exposure therapy implementation in community settings is challenging. We highlight how this partnership has addressed individual-, organization-, and policy- level challenges and how lessons from this work can inform future implementation efforts.

Next, we discuss a key, yet understudied practice: session planning. Using participatory mixed-methods, this project describes evidence-based practice (EBP)-trained community MH clinicians’ barriers and facilitators to session planning, their current planning practices, and their desired planning supports. Recommendations for future research and practice in this important but overlooked area are outlined. 

Third, we describe a multi-stage, community-partnered research project to iteratively develop and test implementation strategies to support teachers in implementing EBPs for youth with ADHD in schools. We highlight the approaches used to learn from educators’ practice-based expertise across project stages and present initial implementation outcomes.

Finally, we describe the implementation of BRIDGE, an evidence-based model for embedding teacher consultation and coaching activities into school-based MH clinicians’ regular workflow in Philadelphia’s school district. Implementation strategies and lessons learned from the largest real-world implementation of BRIDGE to date are discussed.

Our discussant is a distinguished leader and policymaker in Philadelphia’s public mental health system who directs all EBP efforts in the city and county. They will share their years of leadership experience working alongside researchers and community members to improve the city’s public MH services. 

This symposium will be valuable to researchers interested in developing effective academic-community partnerships. We are excited to share our experiences of local, community-based implementation efforts in a year where ABCT is held in Philadelphia.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. Identify strategies to build effective academic-community partnerships in under-resourced settings with many contextual stressors.
  2. Discuss methods for researchers to gather practice-based evidence and expertise from community partners.
  3. Demonstrate how to leverage community-partner feedback and expertise to inform future research and implementation efforts.
  4. Evaluate multilevel barriers and facilitators to implementation that exist in community mental health settings and schools.
  5. Discuss future directions for co-creating mental health research and practice.

Presentations:

  • 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EST
    (SYM 64) A Case Example of Successful Exposure Therapy Implementation in Community Mental Health

    Speaker: Emily Becker-Haimes, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – University of Pennsylvania

    Co-author: Amanda Sanchez, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – George Mason University

    Co-author: Michal Weiss, B.S. – Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

    Co-author: Megan Brady, B.S. – University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

    Co-author: Kennedy Chatman, B.S. – Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

    Co-author: Jesslyn Jamison, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Penn Center for Mental Health

    Co-author: David S. Mandell, Other (he/him/his) – Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

  • 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EST
    (SYM 64) A Mixed Methods Examination of Session Planning Among Philadelphia Public Mental Health Therapists

    Speaker: Briana S. Last, Ph.D. (they/them/theirs) – Stony Brook University

    Co-author: Madeline Kiefer, B.A., M.A. (she/her/hers) – Stony Brook University

    Co-author: Yuanyuan Yang, M.A. – University of Kansas

    Co-author: Ahnaf Annur, M.A. – Stony Brook University

    Co-author: Natalie L. Dallard, M.A. (she/her/hers) – Community Behavioral Health

    Co-author: Emily Schaffer, LCSW – Evidence-Based Practice and Innovation Center

    Co-author: Courtney Benjamin Wolk, PhD – University of Pennsylvania

  • 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EST
    (SYM 64) Supporting Evidence-based Intervention in the Classroom: A Pilot RCT

    Speaker: Gwendolyn Lawson, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

    Co-author: Julie Sarno Owens, PhD – Ohio University

    Co-author: David S. Mandell, Other (he/him/his) – Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

    Co-author: Samantha Tavlin, MA – Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

    Co-author: Sadie Butcher, BA – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

    Co-author: Aaron Lyon, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – University of Washington

    Co-author: Ricardo Eiraldi, PhD – Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

    Co-author: Thomas Power, ABPP, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

  • 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EST
    (SYM 64) A Community-partnered Process for Adapting the BRIDGE Mental Health Teacher Consultation Model for Implementation in a Large Urban School District

    Speaker: Siena Tugendrajch, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

    Co-author: Jordan Albright, Ph.D. – University of South Alabama

    Co-author: Julie Worley, Ph.D. – Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

    Co-author: Samantha Rushworth, Ph.D. – University of Pennsylvania

    Co-author: Elise Cappella, Ph.D. – New York University

    Co-author: Sophia Hwang, Ph.D. – University of Maryland, Baltimore County

    Co-author: Shannon Testa, M.Ed. – Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

    Co-author: Natalie L. Dallard, M.A. (she/her/hers) – Community Behavioral Health

    Co-author: Jayme Banks, PsyD, MBA – School District of Philadelphia

    Co-author: Cherry Du, LPC, NCC – Evidence Based Practice and innovation center, community behavioral health

    Co-author: Gwendolyn Lawson, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

    Co-author: Courtney Benjamin Wolk, PhD – University of Pennsylvania