Mayerson Child Well-Being Initiative Launched in Partnership with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital

June 7, 2022

On May 13, a community-academic team from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital launched the Mayerson Child Well-Being Initiative with a free virtual event: Thriving Children: Sharing Diverse Perspectives Through Research, Story, and Art. The initiative, led by Carley Riley, MD, MPP, MHS, aims to generate transformational change in how communities, organizations, institutions, and systems nurture the well-being of children and youth so that all children and youth may thrive.

A diverse collective of people created the launch event, including academics, community leaders, youth leaders, institutional leaders, future leaders, healthcare practitioners, advisors and champions. Approximately 175 people registered for the Fisher Center for Child Health Equity event, not only from within Cincinnati but also from across the US and from other countries.

The four-hour event wove together talks from nationally known speakers on child, youth, and community well-being; visual and performance art from local youth and adult community members; and an intergenerational panel of community members who shared a facilitated conversation about child and youth thriving. Video and graphic recordings of the event will be made available at https://actcincy.org/ in the near future.

During the launch event participants:

  • Started developing a shared language around child and youth well-being and thriving,
  • Worked toward developing a shared mental model that centers the wisdom of children, youth, family, and community,
  • Demonstrated how to leverage multiple scientific disciplines including ,
  • Integrated contributions through art, performance, and conversation, and
  • Began growing a network through which to bring about transformational change.

From here, Dr. Riley and team will grow the network, recognizing that the aim of the Mayerson Child Well-being Initiative is an audacious one that will require a much larger collective of heads, hearts, and hands working together, with each contributing their piece to the whole.