'For Youth by Youth': Distributive Leadership in Action With a Youth Codesign Team

Background: Integrated youth services are an emerging delivery model in Canada that addresses siloed and fragmented youth mental health and other services. Youth engagement is viable for developing integrated youth services when purposefully built. However, it is not always clear how youth are involved in service transformation as decision-makers, and it requires an exploration of how to work with youth authentically and intentionally in the codesign process.

Methods: This study reflects on the development of HOMEBASE, a network of integrated youth service delivery in Saskatchewan, Canada, and documents the process of actively and authentically engaging with youth through distributive leadership in the codesign process.

Findings: Youth are actively and eagerly willing to participate in the codesign process of developing integrated services when there is a shared responsibility, and they are authentically involved and informed within the decision-making process. This requires time to form trust, build relationships and provide youth with low-pressure environments to foster healthy debates.

Conclusion: By utilizing a distributive leadership approach, the Youth Codesign Team has been engaged in various levels of decision-making. By following these guiding principles, policymakers, youth development workers and researchers can engage youth in meaningful ways to improve the design and development of integrated care.

Patient or public contribution: Five youths from the HOMEBASE Provincial Youth Co-Design Team collaborated in writing this article based on their experiences of being engaged at varying levels of decision-making in a distributive leadership approach to building integrated youth services.