Adolescent Brainstorming Session Discussion Guide

Attachment 6: Adolescent Brainstorming Session Discussion Guide

OMB Control No. 0920-1154

Exp. Date 3/31/2026

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	BRAINSTORMING SESSION INTRODUCTIONS (5 min.)
	Facilitator: Hi, thank you for joining us! My name is [insert Team Member Name] and I am a part of the Deloitte Team working with the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Office of Policy and Partnerships. Our team is working to better understand the experiences of girls and nonbinary teens living in rural areas across the United States. Your feedback in any of these sessions will help CDC develop improve service delivery for teen mental health in the future. We recognize there is a growing number of teens impacted by mental health challenges, and the heart behind this effort led by the CDC is to try to better understand those experiences and make a positive difference in teen lives. This is meant to be an informal conversation. Before today’s session, we’ve hosted several interviews and focus groups with other teens. We took a lot of what we heard and began to make connections and identify common themes across sessions. We are hoping to hear your reactions to some of these initial learnings and see what additional comments you may have to add to the conversation. Before we get started, I would also like to introduce you to my teammate(s), [insert team member name(s)], who is here to take general notes of our conversation. Please know that nothing that you share will be attached to your name. We will not share what you say with your parents/guardians, but if you report that you are a danger to yourself or others, we will take steps to make sure you are safe. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please let us know now (pause). For your privacy, please only refer to yourself by your first name or a fake name. If there is any question you do not want to answer, you can always say “pass” or “skip.” Your safety is important to us, so if at any point you would like to step out of the session, you are welcome to do so. [If you would like to step out of today’s session at any point, quietly exit the room and one of our project team members will meet you outside.] As a reminder, you will be sent a $50 Visa gift card for your time. [Only read if virtual] If you have not already, please rename yourself on Zoom so that your profile only shows your first name or a fake name. To update your name: 1. Click “Participants” at the bottom of your screen 2. Hover over your name in the Participants list > Click the button with three dots. 3. Select “Rename” from the list 4. Enter your first name or a fake name only [Read for both session types] Again, your answers to these questions will be combined with all other participant answers, and there will be no way to tell who you are from the responses. We are recording the audio of these conversations for note taking purposes only, and the recordings will be destroyed after the project ends. Can you confirm you are okay with our team audio recording this session? This brainstorming session will take 90 minutes to complete. Before we jump in, let’s cover a few “Rules of the Road” to guide our session. Be present: Unplug, Turn off, Tune in – limit distractions by saving phone notifications for after this session. Get Real: Bring your authentic self – be personal, connected, and real. We want to hear your honest thoughts today, and truly value your opinions. More is…more!: Share as many ideas as you can think of for each question. There is no such thing as a “wrong” answer today, and we want to hear all the ideas you have – even the wild ones! Be adventurous: This is meant to be a creative, interactive session. Feel free to use the format that works best for you – respond verbally, [use sticky notes, or draw], [type in chat or annotate with text] as you respond. [Only read if virtual] If you are participating on your computer today, you’ll also have the option to annotate the screen using stamps or text during the session. As a reminder on how to annotate, you should see a green bar at the top of your screen that says “You are viewing [Insert Team Member Sharing Screen Name] screen.” Here, you should see a button that says, “View Options.” Click the ‘down’ arrow next to “View Options” and the Annotate button will appear. Click “Annotate” and this menu will pop up. Hover over the stamp button and select the “X” stamp. Practice stamping your “X” anywhere on this slide. You can drop ideas or responses into the chat anytime as well during the session! To access the Zoom chat, select the button with a speech bubble that reads “Chat” as shown here on the screen. Great, thank you for practicing that! [Read for both session types]: If you have any other questions during today’s session, please let us know Do you have any questions before we begin?
GENERAL RAPPORT BUILDING (5 min.)
Question 1 (Open Ended) (Approximate time: 5 minutes)		Let’s start off with a fun icebreaker for introductions. Let’s go around and have everyone share their first name or a fake name and their favorite book, movie, song, or video game. I can start us off! I’m [Insert Team member first name], and my favorite [insert book, movie, song, or video game] is [insert response]. Alright, that was great, thank you all for sharing! Now let’s jump-in to our discussion.

IN-DEPTH CONVERSATION (~75 min.)
Question 2 (Approximate time: 10-25 minutes)			To start the conversation, on the [screen/worksheet], I am going to share some of the things we heard from teens during our previous interview and focus groups. We’d love your honest reactions. Remember, there is no right or wrong answer here. Some of the initial themes we’ve heard are [INSERT THEMES HERE]. What do you think about these themes? Please take a moment to annotate the [screen/worksheet] using [annotation feature/the sticky notes and markers provided]. [Probing Questions]: Do you resonate with the experiences shared in these messages? Do any of these themes surprise you? Are there any themes shown that you disagree with? Why? Can you tell me more about your reaction [insert reflection on their annotation/reaction]? How does [insert theme] impact daily lives of you or your friends?
Question 3 (Approximate time: 10-25 minutes)			One topic are we are exploring is how unique identities affect mental health experiences. Some of the unique insights we found related to [insert sub-population/identity] includes [insert specific insight]. What do you think about these insights? Please take a moment to annotate the [screen/worksheet] using [the annotation feature/the stickers and markers provided]. [Probing Questions]: Can you tell me more about your reaction [insert reflection on their annotation/reaction]? Do you resonate with the experiences shared in these/this message(s)? Have you seen [insight] play out in friends? Do any of these insights surprise you? Do you disagree or agree with anything? Why?
Question 4 (Open Ended) (Approximate time: 10-25 minutes)			As a part of this project, we are using the comments we’ve heard in these sessions to outline the mental health experiences of girls and nonbinary teens in rural communities like yours. We’ve begun some initial development of “journey mapping” materials to visualize the themes and insights we are hearing about youth mental health experiences and want to hear your feedback on how they look so far. This is the [first/second/third/#] visual, which focuses on [INSERT TOPIC HERE] What are your initial thoughts about this? Please take a moment to annotate the [screen/worksheet]. [Probing Questions]: In what ways do you agree or disagree with the sequence of events presented here? Do you have any suggestions of ideas to add, change, or remove? Can you tell me more about your reaction [insert reflection on their annotation/reaction]?
Question 5 (Open Ended) (Approximate time: 5-15 minutes)			Here is a list of the top mental health resources other girls and nonbinary teens shared they use in their communities. Do you have any to add? Have you or any of your friends used any of the ones listed here or others not listed? [Probing Questions]: Are there some environments or groups of people that make you feel empowered in your community? Who else or what else do you turn to when you’re having a tough time?
Question 6 (Approximate time: 5-15 minutes)			This next one is a bit of a larger open-ended question. Please take a moment to reflect before answering, and feel free to jot down ideas as you think. We’ve drafted this table [on your worksheet] for you to use to help organize your thoughts. Along the top of this table you will see all of the different types of communities you and your peers may be a part of (i.e., school, family, friends, religious organizations) and along the side you will see different types of resources/activities to support teen mental health. In each of the boxes of the table, we’ve added stickies for you to write your ideas on as you think of them. We’ve completed an example sticky to help you get started. Take the next two minutes to begin jotting down some ideas for what you would do to improve the mental health experience of girls and nonbinary teens in your community using the chart as a guide. [Probing Questions]: Can you tell me more about that? Can you provide an example of how you think that could work?
Question 7 (Approximate time: 5 minutes)			Is there anything we have not asked you about related to these topics that you would like to share?
	Conclusion (2 min.)
	Facilitator: Thank you for your time today and thank you for participating in this interview! Our session is now completed. You will be given a $50 Visa gift card for your time, which will be emailed to you in the coming days.
	Backup Question Bank
	Here is a quick look at what we heard when we asked other participants what “mental health” and “self-care” means to them. [Display results on screen or in printed handouts.] Do any of these responses surprise you? Which ones do you agree/disagree with? Do you have a different definition to add?