From Small Ripples to a Sea Change: Elucidating Long-Term and Multi-Level Youth Mental Health Intervention Impacts...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Program Evaluation
• Qualitative Research Methods

Background:

• Complex public health interventions often have long-term, multi-level impacts that traditional evaluation methods struggle to capture.
• The Agenda Gap program, a youth mental health promotion initiative, involves multi-sectoral partnerships and yields relational outcomes.
• Assessing the full scope of such interventions requires innovative evaluation approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To apply an adapted Ripple Effects Mapping (REM) approach to evaluate the Agenda Gap program.
• To elucidate systems and community change associated with the youth mental health intervention.
• To identify long-term intended and unintended impacts beyond traditional evaluation metrics.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an adapted Ripple Effects Mapping (REM) qualitative participatory approach.
• Collected data through transcripts and mind maps from former youth collaborators and adult allies.
• Employed reflexive thematic analysis to analyze the generated data.

Main Results:

• Identified three key program outcomes: Reimagining Future Possibilities, Systems Integration: Transforming School Practices, and Progressing From Ripple Effects to Sea Change.
• Captured impacts spanning individual, family, community, and societal levels.
• Demonstrated meaningful impacts for both direct participants and those more distal to the intervention.

Conclusions:

• The adapted REM approach successfully captured substantive, multi-level impacts of the Agenda Gap program.
• Qualitative, participatory methods like REM can reveal typically overlooked outcomes, complementing traditional evaluations.
• Findings highlight the program's significant influence on youth mental health promotion and systems change.