Check out my poster here!
IAYMH Conference Opening
This March, I traveled to Vancouver, Canada to attend the 2025 International Association for Youth Mental Health (IAYMH) Conference. The theme “Creating a global blueprint for prevention and integrated care in Youth Mental Health,” brought together people from around the world to share exciting interventions that focused on early prevention and integrated care models. This conference was a valuable opportunity to learn from and connect with academics, researchers, clinicians, and especially young people working in this space.
Selena Yu (MCAH MPH '25) standing next to her poster presentation titled "Turning to youth for healthier social media strategies and policies," focusing on uplifting youth voices and centering their lived experiences
My poster, titled “Turning to youth for healthier social media strategies and policies” showcased the work of the GoodforMEdia program. GoodforMEdia (GFM), a peer-to-peer youth-led mentoring initiative housed under Stanford University’s Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing, focuses on elevating the lived experiences of our youth to develop strategies and tips for a healthier social media experience. The program then shares these strategies through peer workshops, blogs, resource guides, youth testimonials, and our own youth-developed conversation cards. Additionally, GFM youths advocate for healthier social media policies at the local, state, and federal levels. As an adult ally, I help standardize and evaluate our peer workshops to ensure that they are evidence-based. These workshops are a core component of the GFM program as they provide a space for youth to discuss both the negative and positive impacts of social media on their mental health. Furthermore, these workshops are youth facilitated, which is greatly appreciated and allow participants to feel more comfortable with sharing their experiences with others who can relate.
At the conference, I was excited to share these insights and discuss the importance of applying peer-to-peer mentoring models to discussing the impacts social media has on youth mental health. Many of the attendees that I spoke with were interested in implementing GoodforMEdia's approach in their one youth spaces. It was also inspiring to learn about other peer-to-peer programs focusing on substance use and supporting marginalized youth populations.
A few breakout sessions that stood out to me included the Digital Solutions and Lived Experiences sessions. In the Digital Solutions session, I learned about innovative approaches to discuss youth mental health, such as using table-top games, video games, and virtual reality. While these approaches are exciting, I also considered their accessibility for a wider group of youth and how they might initially discover these interventions. The Lived Experiences session highlighted the importance of including youth at every stage of design in community-based research intervention. True participatory work only happens when the targeted group is involved. Additionally, plenary sessions emphasized the need to center youth voices, especially those from marginalized communities, and to include cultural components in interventions and treatments. The sessions also showcased integrated youth services, which provide a “one-stop shop” for youth and called for more school-based interventions that offer prevention and early care mental health services.
Foundry, a youth social services organization in North Vancouver, British Columbia
Outside of the conference, I was also fortunate to visit a Foundry center, a youth integrated care model in the BC area. It was inspiring to see a space dedicated to supporting youth with a wide range of needs, including mental health, physical health, occupational therapy, peer support, substance use, sexual health, etc. Foundry offers these services free of charge to youth aged 12-25 and ensures smooth transitions to other services once they reach 25. This visit reinforced the importance of such centers and highlighted the differences between Foundry and allcove, which are the youth-integrated spaces in California. I am excited to see both programs develop further, especially as Foundry works on an app to increase accessibility, and as new allcove centers are established across California.
Overall, this conference was an incredibly insightful experience and I am more inspired than ever about the future of youth mental health. It was exciting to see the positive work being done globally and to think about the role I can play in this space!
I would like to thank Berkeley Public Health, the MCAH Program, and the Center of Excellence for their support in making my attendance at the conference possible.
If you are interested in connecting further, feel free to reach out on LinkedIn.