Community-Based Collaboration in Prevention and Mental Health Promotion: Benefiting from and Building the Resources of Partnership

Abstract

Successful primary prevention and promotion initiatives in mental health recognize and include the perspectives of multiple stakeholders. Community-based collaboration is an important strategy for achieving this balance and for facilitating the achievement of other key characteristics that are consistently associated with effective programs. We examine the powerful benefits of collaboration – described in terms of the resources contributed by each partner as well as the environment and processes created by diverse partners working together – within the context of ten characteristics of successful prevention and promotion programs. We also review some of the most common challenges to collaboration and offer recommendations for overcoming them in order to facilitate success in mental health promotion.