Introduction
In the realm of children's mental health, the implementation of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) is crucial for bridging the pervasive treatment gap. A recent scoping review, "Stakeholder Engagement to Inform Evidence-Based Treatment Implementation for Children's Mental Health," highlights the pivotal role of stakeholder engagement in enhancing the success of EBT implementation. This blog explores how practitioners can leverage these insights to improve their skills and outcomes for children.
The Importance of Stakeholder Engagement
The review underscores that engaging stakeholders—ranging from providers and caregivers to policymakers and clients—can significantly impact the success of EBT implementation. Stakeholders provide critical context-specific knowledge and cultural insights that can preempt challenges and enhance the "fit" of EBTs within diverse settings. Despite its importance, stakeholder engagement is often shallow, with limited shared decision-making.
Key Findings from the Review
- Stakeholders are most often engaged during the active implementation phase, yet engagement is typically limited in depth.
- Providers and agency administrators are frequently engaged, but there are gaps in engaging policymakers, payers, and clients.
- Projects in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) tend to engage stakeholders earlier in the process, often to adapt EBTs for cultural relevance.
Practical Steps for Practitioners
Practitioners can enhance their skills and outcomes by adopting a more inclusive and participatory approach to stakeholder engagement. Here are some practical steps:
- Broaden Stakeholder Involvement: Engage a diverse range of stakeholders, including clients and payers, to gain comprehensive insights and foster buy-in.
- Engage Early and Often: Involve stakeholders from the exploration phase to ensure their insights shape the EBT selection and adaptation processes.
- Empower Stakeholders: Move beyond consultation to collaboration, granting stakeholders greater decision-making power to enhance implementation success.
Encouraging Further Research
The review calls for more research to characterize stakeholder engagement efforts broadly and to explore the impacts of engagement on EBT implementation outcomes. Practitioners are encouraged to contribute to this growing body of knowledge by documenting and sharing their stakeholder engagement experiences and outcomes.
Conclusion
Stakeholder engagement is a powerful strategy for enhancing the implementation of evidence-based treatments in children's mental health. By involving stakeholders more deeply and earlier in the process, practitioners can improve the success and sustainability of EBTs, ultimately leading to better outcomes for children. For those interested in delving deeper into the research, the original paper can be accessed here: Stakeholder engagement to inform evidence-based treatment implementation for children’s mental health: a scoping review.
