Community commitment and engagement is a fundamental academic mission of the Department and continues to grow and expand over time. Our community mission is defined broadly and flexibly to include our dedication to expanding our intensive local, state, and national community collaborations, ultimately extending these efforts to support novel behavioral health systems for providing mental health care around the world. Our view is that community commitment and engagement will have the greatest impact when informed by and combined with the other missions of science, clinical care, education, and leadership.
The Department has had a long tradition of great efforts in our community – sharing expertise and working on site at our local schools, serving on multidisciplinary care teams, supporting shared clinical training programs in San Mateo County, and working shoulder to shoulder with clinicians in a variety of community clinical settings throughout our nearby counties. Our faculty have worked with local agencies and advocacy groups to bring greater focus to the public health impact and specific needs of people living with mental health challenges, ranging from autism to schizophrenia. We have worked tirelessly to address the issue of suicide that has threatened the lives of our young people and families and the heart of our neighborhood.
By integrating community engagement strategies throughout the department’s efforts, we create opportunities for co-learning and collaboration within the Department, across Stanford University, and throughout our local communities and beyond. Our collaborators have years of experience developing a wide variety of treatment and educational services for those they serve. Departmental faculty and trainees feel privileged to participate in the health care partnerships that allow them the opportunity to contribute to the improvement of the mental health and wellbeing of our communities.