A qualitative exploration of research-school partnerships during COVID: How to better serve our community partners during times of crisis

Abstract

Most youth access mental health care through their school. As such, research has targeted schools as ideal service settings to reduce disparities in service use among adolescents. The COVID shutdowns were associated with elevated stress and depression across caregivers, teachers, and students, and increased rates of suicide amongst youth. In the virtual space, schools had difficulty maintaining needed supports. Negative impacts were disproportionately experienced by Black communities and urban school settings. The shutdown also disrupted most research efforts occurring in school settings, leaving schools with even fewer supports when most in need. Thus, the current qualitative study aimed to obtain feedback from personnel in an urban high school system on how research-community partnerships could better support schools generally and especially during times of crisis. Our sample consisted of 17 teachers and school-based mental health providers who participated in virtual qualitative interviews or focus groups. Four key themes emerged, calling for reform in how research partners interact with school partners: 1) embed the researcher in the community, 2) utilize the researcher as an allied communicator, 3) empower the researcher to adapt in response to shifting demands, 4) establish the researcher as a long-term partner. Findings call for reform in how community-based research is funded to better allow researchers to develop long-standing, culturally responsive, and mutually beneficial partnerships, particularly in times of crisis.

Keywords: COVID; Dissemination and Implementation; Qualitative; community partnership; school-based mental health.

Figure 1.. Conceptual model for research-school partnerships in stressful times.

Partners noted contextual COVID pandemic factors and non-COVID factors that influence the school environment. Schools have their own unique characteristics that influence service provision broadly. Within the school environment, researchers are embedded and in direct contact with partners as well as facilitate communication between partners. Research-school partnerships are iterative with continuous feedback and adaptation considerations generated by partners and service delivery and effective communication provided by the research team.