Stepping Up to Support Community Mental Health and Workforce Well-Being

Session Overview

Communities face multiple stressors — from economic uncertainty and political division to climate events, social isolation, and public safety concerns — and public health teams are feeling that strain as well.

This session will highlight what leading departments and coalitions are doing to respond more effectively, including practical ways to support staff well-being, strengthen outreach, and connect community members to help earlier. Participants will leave with peer-grounded, evidence-informed strategies they can adapt to promote community mental health while sustaining the people doing the work.

What You’ll Learn

• Practical, evidence-informed actions public health departments can take to strengthen staff resilience, morale, and mental well-being under sustained strain
• Trusted early outreach and scalable engagement strategies that can improve connection to mental health support, especially for populations facing higher disparities, SDOH complexity, and stigma
• How peers use coalition approaches and simple data signals to help prioritize action and strengthen accountability for community mental health efforts

Speakers