Developing a Community–Academic Partnership to Promote Mental Health Among Underserved Preadolescent Girls in Boston, Massachusetts

Background: Strong Women Strong Girls (SWSG) supports positive mentoring relationships between college women and preadolescent girls in underserved communities. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) seeks to advance population health through learning, discovery, and communication.

Objective: To establish a community–academic partnership between SWSG staff and HSPH researchers, understand the mental health experiences and needs of SWSG girls, and inform research-based mental health promotion activities for SWSG girls.

Methods: The lead community and academic partners participated in the Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Partnership Academy and established a steering committee (SC) to develop the partnership and implement CBPR projects.

Lessons Learned: Clear leadership and ongoing communication were critical to developing and sustaining our partnership. Engaging various SWSG community members in different ways and at different points in the research process was central to successfully implementing our CBPR project.

Conclusions: Our community–academic partnership provides a foundation for promoting mental health among preadolescent girls in underserved Boston communities through both research and action.