Dismantling white supremacy in community mental health
What is it about?
Implementation research and practice can sustain white supremacist structures and perpetuate inequities in mental health care if not acknowledged and addressed. We offer recommendations that center collaboratively developed, community-led approaches to foster equity in mental health care.
Why is it important?
The Open Forum is an opinion piece developed in collaboration with implementation scientists and community partners (i.e., individuals with experience with supervision, administrators, direct care provision, and youth advocacy). Conversations surrounding their experiences in working with implementation scientists centered around who had a say in what interventions were utilized, how those interventions were not developed for their communities, and the underlying power structures that existed with their relationships with researchers. Our goal was to increase awareness of these issues all tied to white supremacy by lifting up and amplifying the voices of our colleagues in this academic outlet and increase dialogue surrounding strategies for upending white supremacist practices within implementation science.