JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Despite significant investment, mental ill-health remains a leading cause of death for young people globally. Sophisticated decision analysis methods, such as systems modelling, are needed to better understand the dynamic and multi-sector drivers of youth mental health in diverse regions and how to more effectively respond to local needs to achieve lasting improvements. The advantages of engaging stakeholders in model development processes have long been recognised, however the methods for doing so are often not well described.

Objective:

Drawing on many years of participatory modelling research and practice, this protocol describes the procedures that will be used to operationalise the participatory process supporting systems modelling for national multi-site implementation in the Right care, first time, where you live research program. This program will focus on regional youth mental health applications across Australia.

Methods:

The participatory model development approach involves an iterative process of engaging with a diverse range of participants, including people with lived experience of mental health issues, to understand the local systems, pathways and drivers and combining their knowledge with the academic literature to parameterise the model and validate its structure. The process centres around three workshops where participants interact and actively engage in group model building activities to define, refine and validate the systems model. This protocol provides a detailed blueprint for the implementation of this process for mental health applications and more broadly.

Results:

The participatory modelling methods described in this protocol will be implemented at two sites per year from 2022 to 2025. The eight selected sites have been chosen to capture variation in important factors including determinants of mental ill-health and access to services. Site engagement will commence from August 2021and the first modelling workshops are scheduled to commence in February 2022.

Conclusions:

Mental health system decision makers require tools to help navigate complex environments and leverage interdisciplinary problem-solving. Systems modelling can mobilise data from diverse sources and be used to test a range of scenarios, including exploring the impact of interventions in different combinations and contexts. Involving stakeholders in the model development process ensures that model findings are context-relevant and fit for purpose to inform decision making. Clinical Trial: N/A