In early 2023, The Maine Pediatric and Behavioral Health Partnership, a partnership between The Department of Health and Human Services, Northern Light Acadia Hospital, and MaineHealth, used ECHO® Methodology to connect 125 participants across Maine, including teachers, ed techs, school nurses, social workers, counselors, and administrators to specialists in child and adolescent mental health.
Each of the six ECHO sessions contained a brief high-yield didactic presentation and provided a structured forum for those working in Maine schools to bring forward complicated behavioral health cases for exploration and review.
As a learning collaborative, we were reminded of mental health promotion skills we were already using and gained new ideas to put into action. We addressed the needs of our student population by learning from each other using case-based methodology.
As a result of the learning collaborative, MCD Global Health created the Mental Health Promotion Toolkit. A collection of helpful resources can be found inside. These materials provide information on mental health promotion, tips for addressing health disparities, and roadmaps for implementing innovative strategies to improve mental health and substance use prevention efforts in schools.
For more information about the Maine Pediatric and Behavioral Health Partnership Program, please call 1-833-MPBHP11 (1-833-672-4711) or contact Melissa Maurais at Melissa.Maurais@maine.gov