The Coalition is aimed at addressing and improving complex challenges in mental health with particular focus on the women and children of two municipalities in Chile: Maipú and Peñalolén. Hoping to expand its coverage and preventative-focused action, the Coalition is made up of many collaborative institutions and notable members.
The High Impact Coalition Initiative to Improve Mental Health in Chile, led by Fawwaz Habbal (SEAS) and Doris Sommer (RLL), is aimed at addressing complex mental health challenges and promoting preventive actions to improve mental health outcomes, particularly among women and children in two municipalities in Chile: Maipú (Aug 2022-Aug 23) and Peñalolén (Nov 2022- Nov 2023). This collaborative effort brings together public, academic, private actors, and municipal social leaders to tackle the country's most significant public mental healthcare gap.
The primary objective of this initiative is to comprehend mental health as a complex social challenge and design a set of preventive social technology interventions that can enhance well-being within a municipality. The ultimate goal is to prevent further declines in mental health, including suicide, starting with the municipality of Maipú, followed by Peñalolén. The High Impact Coalition Initiative seeks to expand its coverage and reach more corners of Chile. Overall, this initiative aims to contribute to developing effective mental health policies and programs that address the needs of vulnerable populations and advance mental health outcomes in Chile.
Experts and Chilean professionals analyze at Harvard strategies for mental health prevention: Marking a groundbreaking collaborative venture in Cambridge, faculty from Harvard joined forces with leaders from Chile's business sector, mental health specialists, and Chilean mayors to strategize on confronting the intricacies of mental health disorders. Their focus was on enhancing preventative measures in Chile during the workshop "Collaborative Systems for Solving Complex Social Challenges: Preventing Mental Illness in Chile," held on October 10th at Harvard University, as part of Harvard Worldwide Week. See a supplementary note here.
Harvard Collaborative Institutions: DRCLAS, Chile Regional Office; Renaissance Now, Arts and Sciences, course taught by Fawwaz Habbal and Doris Sommer; Advanced Leadership Initiative, Fawwaz Habbal and Claudia Bobadilla (Fellow 2022 y Senior Fellow 2023); HealthLab, a joint program of Harvard Chan School and Harvard College's Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship (LPCE); Center for Law, Brain and Behavior Co-Founder and Co-Director, Dr. Bruce H. Price.
The High Impact Coalition members include: Fundación Puente Social, Viñedos Chadwick, Red de Líderes Sociales de Maipú, Red de Líderes Sociales de Peñalolén, Municipalidad de Maipú, Municipalidad de Peñalolén, Universidad de Concepción, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Grupo Raíces, Cámara Chileno Suiza, Nestle Chile, SGS, Archroma, and Clariant. See the Newsletter here.
Pre-Texts training with Maipú community leaders: On October 24, 2023, Saint Francis School of Maipú, represented by Paulina Sala, Coordinator of the Reading Promotion Plan, invited the School of Education of the Universidad Mayor to learn about the level of progress of the Pre-Texts methodology, at the Reading, Writing and Communication Fair, organized by the Provincial Department, Santiago Poniente, from the Chilean Ministry of Education. During the first semester, the creator of this modality and Harvard University academic, Doris Sommer, trained the teaching and management staff of Saint Francis School, which receives students coming from the 80% range of school vulnerability, and with special needs. Pre-Texts is a teacher-training program and a flexible approach to teaching that develops avid and creative readers by using challenging texts as a prompt for making art. See video here.