WhyWeRise Mental Health Campaign - Los Angeles

WhyWeRise Mental Health Campaign - Los Angeles
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Healthcare Program/Policy Evaluation Analysis Template
Healthcare Program/Policy Evaluation
WhyWeRise Mental Health Campaign - Los Angeles
Description
The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) launched the WhyWeRise social marketing campaign in 2018, with the main aims of ensuring maximum involvement of the members of the community on mental health issues, doing away with the barriers inhibiting mental care access, and potentially influencing the youths aged between 14 to 24 to champion mental health access as a fundamental right (Collins et al., 2020 p. 1). In a bid to explore the reach and the impact that the WhyWeRise mental healthcare program had on the target population, RAND corporation, a multinational program and policy evaluation agency, conducted a thorough evaluation through interviews and online surveys (RAND Corporation, n.d.). The WeRise event that was pivotal in the campaign in 2018 and 2019 played a significant role in providing the participants for the evaluation process.
How was the success of the program or policy measured?
The success of the WhyWeRise campaign is primarily based on the number of audiences, particularly the younger audiences who are exposed to the program through the different interactive WeRise events (EurekAlert!, 2018 para. 1). The huge number of youths who turned up for the events and adopted positive attitudes towards mental health is regarded as the ultimate success of the WhyWeRise healthcare program.
How many people were reached by the program or policy selected? How much of an impact was realized with the program or policy selected?
The WhyWeRise campaign is an ongoing mental health awareness program started in 2018 by the LACDMH. Its estimated reach currently stands at over 10 million people, and an average of 250,000 people annually since its inception (Why We Rise, n.d.). The program has been credited for the positive attitudes towards mental health, especially among the youth, and most importantly, the recovery and wellbeing of those overwhelmed by mental disorders. Due to its perceived effectiveness, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the campaign's funding with the hope of further breaking barriers on mental health and consequently healing the society of the social condition.
What data was used to conduct the program or policy evaluation?
The LACDMH and the California Mental Health Service Authority (CMHSA) commissioned the RAND Corporation to carry out the evaluation process in 2018 and 2019 (Collins et al., 2020 p. 2). The evaluation was thus carried out immediately post rollout (2018) and after a year (2019). The 2019 evaluation process majored on the WeRise events that were the critical parts of the campaign process. The data collection methods included in-person interviews and online surveys for the event attendees (Collins et al., 2020 p. 2). The demographics of the event attendees, their perceptions and attitudes towards mental health and the event, and their beliefs and intention regarding mental health were the most critical data from the surveys and the interviews (Collins et al., 2020 p.2). Before the actual study, contact information for the prospective participants was obtained from sample vendors and later handed to Ipsos, the agent in charge of the surveys (Collins et al., 2020 p. 15).
What specific information on unintended consequences were identified?
In an evaluation process that seeks to determine the effectiveness and efficacy of a program, some outcomes not anticipated by the program's initiators or the policy might emerge, and that constitute the unintended consequences (UCs) (Milstead & Short, 2019 p. 119). The unintended outcome that emerged from the evaluation process is the relationship with the disclosure of mental health issues and stigma that employees had to battle (Collins et al., 2020 p. 15). The evaluation process unmasked that every ...