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Aim Demands for mental health services in post‐secondary institutions are increasing. This paper describes key features of a response to these needs: ACCESS Open Minds University of Alberta (ACCESS OM UA) is focused on improving mental health services for first‐year students, as youth transition to university and adulthood. Methods The core transformation activities at ACCESS OM UA are described, including early case identification, rapid access, appropriate and timely connections to follow‐up care and engagement of students and families/carers. In addition, we depict local experiences of transforming existing services around these objectives. Results The ACCESS OM UA Network has brought together staff with diverse backgrounds in order to address the unique needs of students. Together with the addition of ACCESS Clinicians these elements represent a systematic effort to support not just mental health, but the student as a whole. Key learnings include the importance of community mapping to developing networks and partnerships, and engaging stakeholders from design through to implementation for transformation to be sustainable. Conclusions Service transformation grounded in principles of community‐based research allows for incorporation of local knowledge, expertise and opportunities. This approach requires ample time to consult, develop rapport between staff and stakeholders across diverse units and develop processes in keeping with local opportunities and constraints. Ongoing efforts will continue to monitor changing student needs and to evaluate and adapt the transformations outlined in this paper to reflect those needs.

Aim Youth mental health is of paramount significance to society globally. Given early onset of mental disorders and the inadequate access to appropriate services, a meaningful service transformation, based on globally recognized principles, is necessary. The aim of this paper is to describe a national Canadian project designed to achieve transformation of mental health services and to evaluate the impact of such transformation on individual and system related outcomes. Method We describe a model for transformation of services for youth with mental health and substance abuse problems across 14 geographically, linguistically and culturally diverse sites, including large and small urban, rural, First Nations and Inuit communities as well as homeless youth and a post-secondary educational setting. The principles guiding service transformation and objectives are identical across all sites but the method to achieve them varies depending on prevailing resources, culture, geography and the population to be served and how each community can best utilize the extra resources for transformation. Results Each site is engaged in community mapping of services followed by training, active stakeholder engagement with youth and families, early case identification initiatives, providing rapid access (within 72 hours) to an assessment of the presenting problems, facilitating connection to an appropriate service within 30 days (if required) with no transition based on age within the 11 to 25 age group and a structured evaluation to track outcomes over the period of the study. Conclusions Service transformation that is likely to achieve substantial change involves very detailed and carefully orchestrated processes guided by a set of values, principles, clear objectives, training and evaluation. The evidence gathered from this project can form the basis for scaling up youth mental health services in Canada across a variety of environments.