Practical Implementation

There are common implementation practices across approaches to Social Network Health in different contexts.

Here we will describe precautions and historical knowledge that will influence any approach to Social Network Health.

Precautions:

Partial Approach:

Without implementing all of the key action findings in social network health, it is likely that a net negative outcome for community health will result. All of the key action findings are necessary but insufficient on their own. For example, if a community implements a preventative mental health program that is not ecologically valid, then even with all 9 other key action findings correctly implemented, the program is unlikely to see success. That would be a net negative outcome leading to lost resources and potentially cynicism that stands in the way of future efforts.

Expertise:

At all levels of approach implementation, it is necessary to enter in with expert knowledge of training. Without a master-level trainer in the room, it is entirely possible to incorrectly sequence an individual activity such that a negative outcome is experienced.

A negative training cascade can occur when an expert trainer trains a less experienced trainer, and that less experienced trainer is then allowed to train other trainers before they themselves are experts. This is a common problem often associated with "voltage drop".

History of Practice:

SEL

In the parlance of Social Emotional Learning in US schools there Tiers - Tier 1 (prevention-based) comes before Tier 3 (isolation-based) because it is, colloquially, terrible to have to isolate people - generally, Tier 1 is the success case and Tier 3 is the last line of defense for individuals who need it. This is appropriate prioritization from the perspective of a social network health approach. In practical implementation, however, far fewer communities put as many resources into effective Tier 1 programming as Tier 3.