Equity IS Engagement: Building Capacity for Meaningful Change - CMHO Conference

Published Dec 20, 2023

Equity and engagement work are often considered separate priorities within child and youth mental health and addictions (CYMHA). Resource constraints and time pressures often create false choices between equally worthwhile endeavours. In actuality, the purpose, goals, processes and intended outcomes of equity and engagement work often overlap, creating opportunities for more effective and efficient planning that results in a more meaningful impact on programs, services and systems.

This hands-on workshop presented by Louise Murray-Leung (Engagement Specialist and family member with lived experience), Haruka Kanai (Engagement Specialist) and Michelle Chin (Bilingual Knowledge Broker) built participant capacity for practicing equitable youth and family engagement.

The workshop included facilitated ‘knowledge bursts’ linked to small group activities, dialogues, and networking or knowledge exchange, such as an introductory self-assessment, a world cafe knowledge burst and small group activity. 

Participants left with an understanding of how to approach engagement work with an integrated equity and engagement lens.

Conference date: November 20, 2023, 11:00 - 12:00 p.m. EST

Learning objectives 

• Understanding the ways that equity and engagement values, approaches and practices are complementary rather than competing – providers don’t have to choose one or the other.
• Understanding inequity within engagement (i.e. who has been engaged historically and how engagement practices can be exclusionary).
• Integrate values-based strategies for engagement and equity.
• How to use engagement quality standards and helpful tools (i.e. Engagement Ladder, Youth engagement traffic light, etc.).
• How to better engage those whose voices have been historically missing or excluded. 
• Creative and efficient strategies for equitable engagement practices.

Self-assessment

Before the start of the workshop, participants engaged in a self-assessment exercise using sticky notes to evaluate their current position on the Equity and Engagement Dual Continuum (Figure 1). Facilitators used this activity to help participants foster awareness of their current standing on the continuum (Figure 2).

Figure 1: Equity and Engagement Dual Continuum

Figure 2: Self-assessment results

Results 

• Most participants sat centrally on the Equity and Engagement Dual Continuum, with some bringing more equity knowledge than others. 
• Only a handful of participants had low equity knowledge and low comfort with applying engagement principles. This was the same case for the engagement continuum, as few had basic knowledge and even fewer had a low comfort level with implementing engagement principles. 
• The self-assessment suggested that this was a highly engaged and moderately informed group. 

World cafe knowledge burst

In this activity, participants engaged with four posters, each highlighting key engagement and equity work themes. These themes encompass crucial principles affecting youth and family experiences. Each poster included a prompt (i.e. ‘Traffic light’) illustrating youth and family impact or experiences in positive and challenging scenarios and space for individuals to contribute their thoughts, points, facts, questions, etc.

Youth Engagement Traffic Light

Scenarios

	Scenario 1: A young person with a diverse identity (e.g. a queer youth or Indigenous youth) is asked to sit on an advisory committee and is expected, by default, to speak for all young people that share their identity.  Some responses included: Tokenism Overwhelming Feeling pressured Misses other experiences because you have the “one” spokesperson
Scenario 2: A young person is given a script to speak on behalf of an organization but has little to no understanding of the issue heard.  Some responses included:  Manipulation Low to negative impact No intention for genuine engagement
	Scenario 3: A youth* or family is asked to join a team of adults but not given space or tools to contribute meaningfully. Staff may occasionally ask for their ideas. Staff make the decisions and do the work.  Some responses included:  Decoration Further harm to marginalized communities May feel unheard and frustrated without a purpose. May feel used.
Scenario 4: Family members sit on a board, providing advice, direction and input on strategic plans and policies.  Some responses included:  Starting to engage in conversations but no accountability for impact Consulted Family is important but cannot be viewed as in place of youth

Small group activity 

In this activity, participants worked in groups to discuss detailed scenarios and identify: 

1. Two to three possible decisions linking to equity and engagement best practices
2. Applicable level(s) of engagement, and 
3. Potential impacts.

Participants were encouraged to utilize the Youth Engagement Traffic Light, the Equity and Engagement Dual Continuum, and Hart's Ladder of Engagement with Decision-Making Process (shown below) when completing this group activity. 

Hart's Ladder of Engagement with Decision-Making Process

Some responses from the small group activity included:

• Go a little deeper – explore the actual cause of the issue, not just the symptom.
• Take a strength-based approach
• Be mindful and more inclusive of the voices that are being centred
• Engage the people who have filed the complaints
• Remove adult positions to make more space for youth, but offer youth options to engage in ways they find meaningful
• Create a diverse youth advisory group and keep these youth informed about how their feedback is being used
• Go into a class or community (where the people are)
• Include students from day treatment class and engage with them in developmentally appropriate ways
• Train and equip leaders with knowledge
• Youth need to be on the steering committee, not just the advisory

Looking ahead

The Youth and Family Mentorship, Engagement, and Co-Design Community of Interest (CoI) seeks to form an advisory committee for co-designing a self-directed, accessible online community. This platform aims to connect young people and families with lived/living experience, fostering inclusivity and support across diverse communities and identities. Separate spaces for youth, families and an integrated space will be developed to discuss organization/system engagement and service co-design. 

For more information about this CoI, please get in touch with Michelle Chin (michelle.chin@camh.ca) and Louise Murray-Leung (murrayll@mcmaster.ca).

See more related to

• youth
• family
• Community Support
• lived experience