Policy and practice proposals to support children and young people coping with interparental conflict and separation

2018 ◽  
pp. 299-342
Author(s):  
Mervyn Murch
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Primary Prevention ◽  
School System ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Family Courts ◽  
The Third ◽  
Whole School ◽  
Preventive Mental Health ◽  
State Schools

This chapter considers how the Caplanian approach might in time become embedded in a whole school system committed to a child's wellbeing and resilient mental health. The first part outlines policy and practice proposals, and looks further at how this approach to primary prevention should be applied not only in state schools but in the context of private boarding schools as well. The second part considers its potential application in the context of child-related litigation in family courts. The third part touches on its relevance to child and adolescent mental health services, and argues for the development of a broader consultative preventive mental health approach to augment and complement their specialist therapeutic intervention.

Providing short-term primary preventive crisis intervention for children in schools

2018 ◽  
pp. 125-148
Author(s):  
Mervyn Murch
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Intervention ◽  
School Health ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Prima Facie Case ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Main Challenge ◽  
Preventive Mental Health ◽  
State Schools ◽  
Case Based

This chapter discusses some ideas about how the Caplanian approach to preventive mental health — specifically the method of crisis intervention — might be applied in state schools, a non-stigmatic site for primary prevention. It argues that there is a strong prima facie case, based both on evidence from children and young people and from theory, for finding ways and means to apply crisis intervention methods of support for children in schools to help them cope with stressful upheavals associated with intense interparental conflict, separation and divorce. The main challenge is how to persuade practitioners and policy makers and educational and school health services that this is a promising approach worth developing.

scholarly journals A whole-school approach to supporting children and young people’s mental health

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 256-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Glazzard
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Whole School ◽  
Policy Paper ◽  
Whole School Approach ◽  
Health Need ◽  
The Uk

Purpose Supporting the mental health of children and young people is a global priority. The issue is not specific to England. However, evidence suggests that one in ten children and young people in England has a mental health need. This represents approximately three students in every classroom. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the role of schools in supporting children and young people’s mental health. Whilst the paper acknowledges that teachers are not trained health professionals, it is argued that a whole-school approach to mental health can support individuals in schools to remain mentally healthy. The elements of a whole-school approach are identified and discussed and some of the challenges in relation to implementation are considered. Critical to the development of a whole-school approach is the commitment from the school leadership team to promoting student and staff wellbeing. Design/methodology/approach This is a policy paper not an empirical study. Findings This paper has outlined the policy context in the UK in relation to children and young people’s mental health. It has addressed the risk and protective factors which can cause or mitigate against mental ill health and it has outlined the elements of a whole-school approach to mental health. Originality/value This paper explores the contribution that schools can make to supporting students’ mental health. There is limited research which addresses mental health in young people from a non-therapeutic angle.

scholarly journals Analysis and critique of ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: A green paper’: Some implications for refugee children and young people

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 338-350
Author(s):  
Pat Cox ◽  
Jane March McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Green Paper ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Health And Well Being

Adopting a children’s rights perspective, a critique and analysis underpinned by documentary research methodology was undertaken in order to assess the extent to which the government’s Green Paper (Department of Health and Social Care and Department of Education, 2017. Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: a green paper. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision-a-green-paper (accessed 7 December 2017)) addresses the mental health and well-being needs of refugee children and young people in England and Wales, identifying strengths, limitations and challenges for future policy and practice. Findings suggest that there is much of potential benefit to refugee children and young people’s future mental health and well-being. However, a paradigm shift, explicit in implications, scale and time frame, will be required, if the Green Paper is to achieve those changes in attitudes, practice and service delivery which it anticipates. We argue that this Green Paper’s overarching challenge is that it is premised on Western-centric models in its understanding of the experiences of refugee children and young people, and management of trauma and mental health. It fails to recognize the meanings and significance of culture, and of diversity and difference, and the need to invest in all communities in facilitating engagement and support for children and young people’s mental health issues.

Scanning the horizon

2018 ◽  
pp. 343-374
Author(s):  
Mervyn Murch
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Helping Professions ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Education Services ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Public Recognition ◽  
Preventive Mental Health ◽  
Process Gain ◽  
The Impact

This chapter concludes the book with a number of challenging questions concerning the future. Among them are, will the movement to listen to and take account of the voices of children and young people in the policy process gain more public recognition and support? What will be the impact of further rapid advances in information technology on children themselves, their parents, and the helping professions? Will principles of preventive mental health and early supportive intervention come to underlie and be integral to the work of the education services (and primary healthcare) and that of the interdisciplinary family justice system? The chapter also considers the prospects for developing an early preventive approach to promote children and young people's positive mental health and wellbeing.

scholarly journals Increasing demand for school counselling through a lay counsellor-delivered classroom sensitisation intervention: a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial in New Delhi, India

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. e003902
Author(s):  
Rachana Parikh ◽  
Adriaan Hoogendoorn ◽  
Daniel Michelson ◽  
Jeroen Ruwaard ◽  
Rhea Sharma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
Stepped Wedge ◽  
Whole School ◽  
Cluster Randomised ◽  
Randomised Controlled

IntroductionWe evaluated a classroom-based sensitisation intervention that was designed to reduce demand-side barriers affecting referrals to a school counselling programme. The sensitisation intervention was offered in the context of a host trial evaluating a low-intensity problem-solving treatment for common adolescent mental health problems.MethodsWe conducted a stepped-wedge, cluster randomised controlled trial with 70 classes in 6 secondary schools serving low-income communities in New Delhi, India.The classes were randomised to receive a classroom sensitisation session involving a brief video presentation and moderated group discussion, delivered by a lay counsellor over one class period (intervention condition, IC), in two steps of 4 weeks each. The control condition (CC) was whole-school sensitisation (teacher-meetings and whole-school activities such as poster displays). The primary outcome was the proportion of students referred into the host trial. Secondary outcomes were the proportion of students who met mental health caseness criteria and the proportion of self-referred adolescents.ResultsBetween 20 August 2018 and 9 December 2018, 835 students (23.3% of all students) were referred into the host trial. The referred sample included 591 boys (70.8%), and had a mean age of 15.8 years, SD=0.06; 194 students (31.8% of 610 with complete data) met mental health caseness criteria. The proportion of students referred in each trial conditionwas significantly higher in the IC (IC=21.7%, CC=1.5%, OR=111.36, 95% CI 35.56 to 348.77, p<0.001). The proportion of self-referred participants was also higher in the IC (IC=98.1%, CC=89.1%, Pearson χ2 (1)=16.92, p<0.001). Although the proportion of referred students meeting caseness criteria was similar in both conditions (IC=32.0% vs CC=28.1%), the proportion weighted for the total student population was substantially higher in the IC (IC=5.2%, CC=0.3%, OR=52.39, 95% CI 12.49 to 219.66,p<0.001).ConclusionA single, lay counsellor-delivered, classroom sensitisation session increased psychological help-seeking for common mental health problems among secondary school pupils from urban, low-income communities in India.Trial registration numberNCT03633916.

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