reACTion
From 2022 to 2025 the reACTion program worked to promote Youth Mental Health in Louisiana by addressing the ways in which social, political, and economic systems shape behaviors and access to resources for youth. Funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), reACTion was designed to reduce suicidality among youth in New Orleans by bringing together youth leaders, educators, and community partners to assess and communicate recommendations for implementing high-impact policies to improve mental health outcomes. Serving 1246 youth through the duration of the project, reACTion used innovative interventions designed for and by young people and adult supporters that 1) improved youth participants' sense of well-being; 2) increased youths’ knowledge about coping strategies and resources that promote fortitude and perseverance; and 3) used arts and culture as protective factors for cognitive well-being and mental stability. ReACTion was successfully able to strengthen a Multi-Tiered System of Support framework and establish Universal Mental Health Screening at partnering schools.
Check Out Highlights from our reACTion Kickoff Event!
On May 20th, 2023, we hosted reACTion, our first major event since the pandemic. This event was a day celebrating New Orleans youth (but all were welcome), and it was held free & open to the public!
The event featured: youth-led conversations on the intersection of mental health with the arts, reproductive justice, & safety; food trucks (Original Thought NOLA and Taceaux Loceaux) & snowballs; live music (DJ ANTWIGADEE!, glbl wrmng, Black Magic Music Group); films; massage, acupuncture & henna; raffles & giveaways; and a special edition of BElite Collective's Radical Freedom Dream workshop!
Our amazing community partners included: The Movement, NOLAHYPE, Girls Rock New Orleans, Liberty's Kitchen, Café Reconcile, RealNameCampaign, and JPNSI is a Community Land Trust.
In Louisiana:
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24 (CDC, 2019)
Black students had the highest rates of suicidal ideation and attempts among Louisiana high school students (CDC, 2019)
Neurobiological studies have shown that creativity, curiosity, and play are three of seven emotional needs, and meeting these needs significantly contributes to overall mental well-being. Making art — music, dance, poetry, drama, the visual arts, etc. — has always been a way that humans have flourished. At IWES, we seek to interweave these healing activities with psycho-educational programming at partnering schools, and thanks to reACTion, we were able to develop and pilot an Arts as Medicine curriculum which utilized expressive arts for wellness support. Well received by youth participants, there is growing evidence showing the positive impacts of arts-based interventions which are more accessible and much less stigmatized than clinical interventions. By building healing-centered and caring relationships between students and artists, young people will feel safe to engage in their worlds with curiosity and develop a desire to build strong social connections both at school and beyond. We envision environments, often seen in traditional practices, where trusted adults guide youth in experiencing the healing power of the arts and nature. This approach aims to help youth, schools, and communities move from merely building resilience to truly flourishing.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Arts as Medicine Pilot
For more information about our Arts as Medicine curriculum and Spring 2025 pilot implementation at Abramson Sci Academy click here.
reACTion at APHA
In 2024 our reACTion Program Manager Meagan Dunham presented a poster at that year’s American Public Health Association (APHA) conference. The poster, entitled “reACTion: Building Resilience through Youth Fellowship Programs to Improve Mental Health Outcomes for Black Youth,” highlighted the fellowship programs IWES developed to educate and expose youth to the connection between art, healing, and mental health. Additionally, the Meagan was tapped to moderate a session examining youth mental health across the lifespan.
In New Orleans:
IWES’ school-based Emotional Wellness Screener found that 12% of the youth surveyed since 2012—the majority of whom are Black—endorsed suicidal ideation, which underscores the need for impactful policies to address this issue.