Development of Youth Engagement Strategy

The development of FNP’s Youth Engagement Strategy began in 2020, and has been informed by youth, caregivers, navigators, MHA service providers, MHA system decision-makers, and community partners at every step of the way. We embarked on our journey to further embrace youth engagement at FNP through a participatory action research project in partnership with youth. The team, including youth and adult members, conducted interviews and focus groups with youth, caregivers, and service providers, as well as FNP staff. This study resulted in a Youth Engagement Framework consisting of 10 critical themes in youth engagement work, which then guided strategy co-development sessions with stakeholders, including FNP staff, leadership, Family Advisory Council and Youth Engagement Partners. The figure below summarizes the development process for this evidence-informed strategy.

Fall 2020:

Youth Research Assistant joined
Youth Engagement Partners (YEPs) joined

Winter 2021:

YEPs, caregiver and navigator representatives co-developed interview and focus group guides
Training for cofacilitators

Spring & Summer 2021:

Interviews and focus groups with youth, caregivers, navigators, service providers, decision-makers

Fall 2021:

Data analysis
Youth Engagement Framework finalized

Winter 2022:

FNP Stakeholder co-development of strategy, using framework as a guide
Youth Engagement Strategy finalized