Knowledge transfer, policymaking and community empowerment: A consensus model approach for providing public mental health and substance abuse services

An important problem in creating new programs and polices is how to encoura ge the transfer of knowledge in non-hierarchical ways so that new, relevant and specific knowledge is co-created by all interested parties. In this pa per, we suggest that a consensus model of policymaking is one response and identify four key structural elements thought necessary for creating such a consensus infrastructure. These are a) a leadership and facilitating capac ity for initiating and promoting such an endeavor, b) a network or consorti um of key researchers, practitioners, consumers, and policymakers to empowe r community ownership of the endeavor, c) a process for consensus building and strategic problem-solving for such a consortium, and d) the continued c reation of a multi-directional dialogue through information dissemination. We examine these elements in action by describing a particular problem solv ing and consensus building model for developing and implementing a program, resolving group differences, and evaluating the group's process and produc ts.