An innovative community organizing campaign to improve mental health and wellbeing among Pacific Island youth in South Auckland, New Zealand.

<bold>Objective: </bold>To examine whether being an organizer in a community organizing program improves personal agency and self-reported mental health outcomes among low-income Pacific Island youth in Auckland, New Zealand.<bold>Method: </bold>Counties Manukau Health initiated a community organizing campaign led and run by Pacific Island youth. We used interviews, focus groups and pre- and post-campaign surveys to examine changes among 30 youths as a result of the campaign.<bold>Results: </bold>Ten youths completed both pre- and post-campaign surveys. Eleven youths participated in focus groups, and four in interviews. Overall, youths reported an increased sense of agency and improvements to their mental health.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>Community organizing has potential as a preventive approach to improving mental health and developing agency over health among disempowered populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]