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How We Are Defining Community Engagement:

We value the voices of people with lived mental health experience and those who support them. Our mission is to lead the mental health research community and beyond in a working partnership with individuals with lived mental health experience, their families, and the agencies that serve them. Below are the four key services our Community Egagement Program offers.

Annual Assessments:

Yearly administration and analysis of the Participatory Action Research Planning and Assessment Tool (PAR-PAT)
Written summary of PAR-PAT results for the iSPARC annual report to fulfill requirements of the DMH contract
Yearly administration of the Diversity and Engagement Survey, distributed to all iSPARC advisory board members

Individualized Researcher Consultation:

CEP outreaches to iSPARC investigators to offer consultations on ongoing research projects based on annual PAR-PAT results
CEP outreaches to iSPARC investigators to offer consults on developing grant proposals based on Grant Guru request forms
At the request of iSPARC researchers and affiliates, CEP provides on-demand consultations (e.g., ways to increase level of engagement, troubleshooting barriers to engagement)

Support for iSPARC Advisory Boards:

Board facilitation and administrative support for the weSPARC Insight Advisory Board, a board comprised of adults with lived experience of a mental health condition
Quarterly support group for advisory board co-facilitators across iSPARC (e.g., YAB, FAB, weSPARC, Lifeline)
On-demand consultations at the request of iSPARC advisory board co-facilitators (e.g., designing advisory board request forms, supporting board conflict resolution)

Advisory Boards:

Our advisory boards made up of those with lived experience, their families and caregivers.

Family Advisory Board (FAB): is a virtual board comprised of family and caregivers of people with lived mental health experience.

weSPARC Insight Adult Advisory Board: is a virtual board comprised of around 8 adults with lived experience of a mental health condition.

Young Adult Advisory Board (YAB): is a virtual board comprised of around 10 young adults between the ages of 18-30 years old with serious mental health conditions from all around the United States.

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