Four States, Four Projects, One Mission: Collectively Enhancing Mental and Behavioral Health Capacity Throughout the Gulf Coast

Abstract

Isolated approaches to complex issues are, at times, ineffective. The Collective Impact (CI) model, with an emphasis on coordination among existing organizations, stakeholders, and the public, can serve as a guidepost to facilitate sustainable change even when used in a modified form. Strategies discussed herein for maximizing the 5 prescribed CI conditions provide an important roadmap for how to interface among multidisciplinary projects seeking to address the same, large-scale public health problem.

Enterprise Evaluation: A New Opportunity for Public Health Policy

“…All zoom-in models underwent numerous reviews, accounting for available data. The MBHCP zoom-in was the most challenging to develop as it reflected the work of independent partners in the 4 states, which had substantial variation in activities, discrete budgets, and leaders representing different mental and behavioral health disciplines 31,32. Thus, the MBHCP initiative operated as 4 state-specific projects nested within a larger MBHCP enterprise.…”

“…The collective creation of a shared logic model required extensive collaboration among partners and, as a result, partners gained full perspective on the varying project contexts and objectives as well as the overlapping project sites and stakeholders. This process resulted in a deeper sense of shared mission among project leaders and fostered additional collective activities to enhance health care capacity across GRHOP sites 31…”

The role of collective impact in improving nutrition. A scoping review

“…(2) Shared measurement systems or strategic learningcollecting data and measuring results consistently on indicators at the community level and across all participating organisations ensures alignment in effort, accountability and learning from successes and failures; (3) Mutually reinforcing activities or high leverage activities-collective impact initiatives depend on a diverse stakeholder groups to work together, not repeating the same activities but participants undertake specific activities at which they excel, in a way that supports and is coordinated with the actions of others; (4) Continuous communication or inclusive community engagement-through regular meetings and other agreed upon communication mechanisms over time to build trust, rapport and recognition and appreciation of common motivation efforts; and (5) Backbone support organisation or containers for change-a separate organisation and skilled staffing to serve as the coordinating backbone to the entire initiative and support collaboration. 6,9 Internationally there has been increasing traction with organisations utilising collective impact to address complex social and health problems, 10 including unemployment, [11][12][13] addiction, 14,15 early life, 16 HIV/AIDS 17 and mental health, 18,19 with evidence of the effectiveness of the partnerships within collective impact approaches. 8 Yet little is known whether these collective impact approaches that are being implemented are generating positive health outcomes.…”

“…Internationally there has been increasing traction with organisations utilising collective impact to address complex social and health problems, 10 including unemployment, 11–13 addiction, 14,15 early life, 16 HIV/AIDS 17 and mental health, 18,19 with evidence of the effectiveness of the partnerships within collective impact approaches 8 . Yet little is known whether these collective impact approaches that are being implemented are generating positive health outcomes.…”