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Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine

Healthy Teen Minds - Calumet, Outagamie & Winnebago Counties

In 2015, Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data from Calumet, Outagamie, and Winnebago county schools indicated that roughly 25% - or about 7,800 - tri-county teens reported feeling “so sad or hopeless” almost every day for two weeks or more that they stopped doing some usual activities. Paired with a rate of teen suicide-related behaviors higher than state and national averages, the data in the region reflected a growing trend in youth depression. In response to the upward trend, the Northeast Wisconsin Mental Health Connection created the Healthy Teen Minds initiative to improve the mental health of teens in the tri-county region.
Health Teen Minds

Impact

The project set out to reduce the rate of depression among teens by implementing population-level strategies that focus on prevention, promoting resiliency and coping skills among youth, intervention for struggling teens and improving access to care. The Healthy Teen Minds initiative worked with 22 school districts in the region, representing more than 30,000 students enrolled in grades 7 to 12.
The project was led by a leadership team with representation from the region’s two largest health systems, the region’s largest provider of youth mental health services, one county health department, school administrators, and a local nonprofit. The coalition used data analysis to guide its strategies, focusing on five driving factors, including sleep, emotional regulation, social connectedness, bullying, and untreated or unidentified depression.

Embedding Sources of Strength into Local Schools

Improved school climate by implementing Sources of Strength at middle and high schools in the region, which utilizes the power of peer social networks to change unhealthy norms and culture to ultimately prevent suicide, bullying, violence, and substance misuse, and promote mental welling being and help-seeking behavior.

Teens Need Zzz’s

Created a marketing campaign to raise awareness about teen sleep and began building a community support for a “start school later” campaign, aimed to help stakeholders and school leaders better understand the critical role sufficient sleep plays in the mental and physical wellbeing among adolescents.

Mental Health Services Navigation Website

Created a user-friendly mental health services navigation website and youth mental health screener that makes it easier for youth and families to detect signs and symptoms of mental health challenges and connect to local mental health services and supports.

Leadership Team

Government

  • Winnebago County Health Dept.

Healthcare

  • ThedaCare
  • Ascension
  • Catalpa Health

Non-profits

  • Northeast Wisconsin Mental Health Connection
  • Pillars

Education

  • Appleton Area School District
  • Oshkosh Area School District

Highlights/Select Work Product

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