Implementing integrated-youth services virtually in British Columbia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Foundry responded to support youth across the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada, by creating a virtual platform to deliver integrated services to youth. In this paper, we report on the development of Foundry Virtual services, initial evaluation results and lessons learnt for others implementing virtual services. Methods and analysis: In April 2020, Foundry launched its virtual services, providing young people and their caregivers from across BC with drop-in counselling services via chat, voice or video calls. Foundry consulted with youth and caregivers to implement, improve and add services. Using Foundry's quality improvement data tool, we document service utilisation, the demographic profile of young people accessing virtual services, and how young people rate the quality of services accessed. Findings: Since launching, 3846 unique youth accessed Foundry Virtual services over 8899 visits, totalling 11 943 services accessed. The predominant services accessed were walk in counselling (32.5%), mental health and substance use services (31.4%), youth peer support (17.2%) and group services (7.3%). Over 95% of youth reported that they would recommend virtual services to a friend. Conclusion: In response to our early findings, we provide three recommendations for other implementers. First, engage the audience in which you intend to serve at every phase of the project. Second, invest in the needs of staff to ensure they are prepared and supported to deliver services. Last, imbed a learning health system to allow for the resources culture of continuous learning improvement that allows for rapid course adjustments and shared learning opportunities.

Foundry: Early learnings from the implementation of an integrated youth service network.

AIMS: To provide the first profile of the demographic and service characteristics of young people (aged 12-24 years) who access Foundry, a provincial network of integrated youth health and social service centres in British Columbia, Canada and to share early learnings about implementation and service innovation. METHODS: Using a retrospective chart review, we conducted a census of all young people accessing a Foundry centre in a 'proof of concept' phase. Six centres were assessed between October 2015 and March 2018. Data included demographics, mental health service access history, service type the youth was seeking, and information about how they found out about the centre. RESULTS: A total of 4783 young people presented during this proof of concept period, for a total number of 35 791 visits. The most frequently accessed category of service was mental health/substance use (57%) followed by physical health (25%). Young people were most likely to be female, aged 15-19, and White. Youth demographic characteristics showed an over-representation of Indigenous and LGBTQ2 youth and under-representation of males and youth aged 20-24. Youth were most likely to learn about Foundry from a friend (44%) or family member (22%). Most youth (58%) reported that they would have gone 'nowhere' if not for Foundry. CONCLUSIONS: Foundry is a model of integrated health and social services delivery, focused on early intervention, prevention and accessibility, driven by the needs and priorities of young people and their families. Leveraging international integrated youth health service evidence, the model addresses urgent priorities in Canadian health service delivery.

Distributive Leadership Within an Emerging Network of Integrated Youth Health Centres: A Case Study of Foundry.

BACKGROUND: Distributive leadership has been proposed as an effective means towards achieving integrated health services. This study draws from the case of Foundry, a network of integrated youth health centres in British Columbia, Canada, and explores the function and impact of distributive leadership in the context of a large-scale effort towards integrated service delivery for youth experiencing mental health and substance use challenges. METHODS: Qualitative data was obtained from a developmental evaluation of Foundry using a longitudinal, ethnographic approach. Over 150 participants involved in the development of six Foundry centres were interviewed individually or in focus groups. Purposive and theoretical sampling strategies were used to maximize the diversity of perspectives represented in the data set. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Distributive leadership was observed to be a facilitator for achieving service and system-level integration. Distributive leadership was effective in promoting streamlined service provision, and coordinating efforts towards optimized access to care. A new culture of leadership emerged through collaboration and relationship-building based on a common value system to prioritize youth needs. CONCLUSION: As Foundry, and other integrated youth services, continues to expand, distributive leadership shows promise in assuring diverse and coordinated input for integrating services.

Frayme: Building the structure to support the international spread of integrated youth services.

AIM: Frayme is a Canadian-based international network designed to accelerate the adoption and scaling up of integrated youth services (IYS). This is done through the synthesis of evidence from a variety of sources and a commitment to integrated knowledge mobilization (KMb) to inform research policy and practice. Frayme is utilizing innovative approaches to stakeholder engagement (youth, families, policy makers, funders, researchers and practitioners) and KMb in order to co-design system change. The purpose of this article describes the overall Frayme strategy and presents findings from a participatory needs assessment implemented to inform policy-related priorities. METHODS: The Frayme leadership team facilitated a participatory needs assessment with major stakeholder groups that applied a modified problem-solving activity. The needs assessment was on a designed to support diverse stakeholder perspectives on ways to improve knowledge mobilization of IYS. Qualitative data were analysed using a thematic analysis. RESULTS: The four themes identified through the needs assessment were: (a) traditional scientific practices, (b) organizational obstacles, (c) change aversion, and (d) pre-established stakeholder hierarchies. CONCLUSIONS: Through the recognition of these challenges, Frayme has developed a set of major objectives to inform projects, opportunities for knowledge sharing, implementation of evidence and scaling up of efforts. The Frayme integrated KMb model represents a unique applied example of an evidence-informed approach to practice collaboration in KMb to promote system change. The findings from this research also contribute to the expanding knowledge base with regard to complex evaluation and system transformation.