Chapter 8: Whose “Best Practices”?: A Community-Engaged and Applied Research Framework Centering Community Experiences

Though mental health programming is usually structured around “best practices,” there are fallbacks associated. They do not address larger systemic issues or take into account community voice. This chapter presents a framework to question best practices and address ignored inequity while welcoming community insight. The K-16+ mental health framework centers student and community voices while promoting accessibility and challenging deficit thinking. Merging assets-based community development and community-engaged research helps build community sustainability while adapting to everchanging community needs, while still being evidence-based. Allowing the people to speak for themselves, they incorporate lived experience from each layer of their identities and context to inform feedback. By working with community strengths and giving them agency, it reduces stigma and builds on existing community knowledge. It also helps institutions play a role in societal change, as it adapts to different communities to build sustainability in the long run.