Riverside University Health System – It’s Up To Us

The Challenge

In Riverside County, RUHS-BH identified far-reaching behavioral health needs including youth substance use prevention, fentanyl overdose awareness, and culturally specific outreach to underserved populations such as farmworkers, Indigenous communities and more. RUHS-BH and its Substance Use Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) program needed a coordinated, countywide approach that could deliver consistent, culturally responsive messaging across urban, rural, and agricultural communities while engaging parents, caregivers, and youth-serving adults as active prevention partners. Success required addressing stigma, equipping families with actionable resources, and tailoring strategies to meet the realities of Riverside communities with unique cultural and linguistic needs.

Our Approach

Civilian partnered with RUHS-BH to build a multi-phase prevention campaign anchored in the trusted It’s Up To Us platform. For SAPT, we designed family-centered messaging that moved beyond awareness into practical prevention, equipping parents and caregivers with evidence-based tools to discuss cannabis, opioids, alcohol, and fentanyl with youth. Through the campaign, we deployed a Family Resource Guide, youth microsite, and school-based pocket cards, complemented by collaborations with Directing Change and Your Social Marketer to integrate prevention resources directly into classrooms and peer networks.

For RUHS’s mental health outreach to Riverside County’s farmworkers, Civilian prioritized cultural context over literal translation. Materials were transadapted into Spanish and Purépecha, incorporating familiar phrasing and community values. We partnered with trusted messengers—including the United Farm Workers and promotores—to ensure credibility and reach people who feel most supported by plain language and visual information, and who may approach government systems with healthy skepticism based on lived experience. This approach helped bridge gaps in behavioral health access for communities that have often been left out of traditional systems of care.

In many communities, culturally resonant mental health resources simply don’t exist—especially ones created with the community, not just for them. Recognizing this gap, Riverside University Health System (RUHS) partnered with Civilian to co-create meaningful, accessible mental health materials for Black and African American, Middle Eastern and North African, and Indigenous and Tribal communities in Riverside County. Through a multi-session feedback process, community leaders, mental health providers, and trusted messengers shaped every aspect of the toolkits, from the language and visuals to the core messages and tone. Resources were transcreated in Dari, Pashto, and Arabic, and reflected intergenerational perspectives, cultural strengths, and community-rooted truths. By compensating participants and honoring their voices throughout the process, RUHS deepened trust and created tools designed not just to inform, but to truly support.

To expand its footprint across Riverside county, RUHS also partners with Civilian to develop and implement the Mead Valley Wellness Village, a countywide marketing campaign to promote outpatient and residential services for mental health and substance use disorders, primary care, and behavioral health urgent care. Civilian developed a new landing page for the Mead Valley Wellness Village and collaborated with RUHS to position the Wellness Village as a trusted, comprehensive hub for care, connecting underserved residents to critical health services and reinforcing the County’s commitment to integrated behavioral health support.

The Results

The campaign has delivered measurable impact by combining culturally grounded messaging with practical tools for prevention and care. Among parents, awareness of where to seek behavioral health support increased from 63% to 75% over two years. The initiative generated over 675,000 impressions and saw an 84% rise in microsite traffic, signaling both reach and sustained engagement. Among farmworkers and Spanish-speaking residents, transadapted materials in Spanish and Purépecha, delivered by trusted messengers, significantly expanded access and strengthened community trust. For Black, Indigenous, and Middle Eastern communities, a co-creation process led to new mental health resources praised for their cultural authenticity and intergenerational resonance. Meanwhile, the launch of the Mead Valley Wellness Village campaign helped position RUHS as a trusted hub for care. Together, these efforts form a scalable model for behavior change, stigma reduction, and equitable access across Riverside County’s diverse communities.