Building a Culturally Responsive Ecosystem for Black Communities through a Community Collaborative Board

Background

The Centers for Disease Control Prevention, Congressional Black Caucus, and the National Institute of Mental Health have called attention to the increasing rates of suicide among Black youth. Recent CDC data denotes a 36.6% increase in suicides among Black individuals aged 10-24. To respond to this call, diverse practitioners and researchers received funding to implement the CA-LINC: A Culturally Adapted Care Coordination Suicide Detection and Intervention Model for Black Youth Project in Mecklenburg County, NC. Due to the need to engage the community in decolonizing the research process, CA-LINC is grounded in Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) methodology. Pinto et al.’s (2011) CCB structure and procedure framework guided the formation and engagement of the Black Youth Mental Wellness Community Collaborative Board (BYMW CCB). The purpose of this study was twofold. First, to explore processes and factors important to the development of CCB’s with Black communities when conducting community based research. Second, engage the CCB in deconstructing the research process specifically as it pertains to navigating structural barriers to centering Black youth wellness in the community.

Methods

Data used consisted of responses from three group listening sessions (in-person and virtual) and a Qualtrics administered survey with 12 members of the CCB. Although the BYMW CCB continues to operate, this present analysis is for the period of July 2022- April 2023 of the CA-LINC study. A deductive, theory-driven approach was used to create original codes from listening sessions responses. The academic and community co-chair systematically identified the survey questions related to Pinto et al.’s (2011) CCB framework. Due to the nature of the open-ended questions, the data underwent open coding. Thematic content analysis was employed to identify major themes.

Results

The themes emerged around the six domains of Pinto’s model were: (a) building trust, (b) collective decision making, (c) intentional collaborative partnerships (d) culturally responsive sharing of knowledge (e) compensation and funding. Some of the themes that emerged from the listening sessions were: (a) repairing harm, (b) prioritizing Black youth (c) recruitment barriers (d) unmet community needs, (e) creating a community of care. A number of lessons were discovered that might enhance future development and implementation of CCBs specific for research with Black communities.

Conclusions/Implications

Pinto’s framework was instrumental to the creation of the BYMW CCB and setting a foundation for developing a culturally responsive ecosystem to meet the needs of Black youth and families in Mecklenburg County. The BYMW CCB recommended strategies to mitigate power and control barriers that were presented during recruitment of Black youth and parents/caregivers for focus groups. As a result, modifications of recruitment strategies to the Institutional Review Board were made for both aims of the study. The ongoing efforts of the CCB is imperative to advance equity in research with Black communities and to support inclusive mental wellness practices for Black youth and families.