Mental Health Promotion in Schools

1997 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 159-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhonda Galbally ◽  
Chris Borthwick
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Young People ◽  
Risk Behaviour ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Promotion ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Health Promotion In Schools

Mental health is a key element in every aspect of health. Poor mental health impacts both directly and indirectly on health, both through biopsychological effects and in its influence on risk behaviour. Health promotion must address these factors in the settings where people live and work. Schools – primary and post primary – are where children and young people spend the greater part of their days, and are thus a key setting.

Be You: A national education initiative to support the mental health of Australian children and young people

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (11) ◽  
pp. 1061-1066
Author(s):  
Erin Hoare ◽  
Andrew Thorp ◽  
Nadine Bartholomeusz-Raymond ◽  
Alicia McCoy ◽  
Helen Butler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Young People ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Early Learning ◽  
Mental Health Promotion ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
National Mental Health ◽  
Education Initiative

Early learning services and schools provide unique settings for mental health promotion and early intervention due to the potential for population-level dosage and reach in terms of reducing multiple risk factors and enabling protective factors among young people. Educators play a key role in supporting children and young people’s experiences of, and access to mental health promotion opportunities, and hold unparalleled opportunity in terms of creating mental health–promoting learning environments. In 2018, the Australian National Mental Health in Education Initiative, Be You, was launched. Be You is a multi-million-dollar Australian government–supported initiative, freely available to all 24,000 early learning services, primary and secondary schools throughout Australia. The potential for subsequent population reach is proposed to potentially exceed that of any mental health promotion initiative for children and young people previously observed in Australia. Be You aims to foster mentally healthy learning communities across Australia through building capacity among educators to embed mental health promotion strategies. The Initiative was developed based on a review and integration of previous national mental health promotion frameworks, with an overall alignment to existing state and territory education, social and emotional well-being frameworks, and the Australian Curriculum. In delivering facilitated support from specialised consultants to early learning services and schools participating in the initiative, Be You draws on professional learning principles designed to build capacity in educators and educational systems relating to mental health promotion. It uses an updated, multi-module online platform providing interactive, evidence-based resources. This paper presents the Be You framework, describes the evidence sources used to inform the underlying principles and objectives, discusses the specific components that form the initiative, details the professional learning modules and content, and discusses potential implications for population mental health and prevention efforts.

scholarly journals Preventive digital mental health interventions for children and young people: a review of the design and reporting of research

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aislinn D. Bergin ◽  
Elvira Perez Vallejos ◽  
E. Bethan Davies ◽  
David Daley ◽  
Tamsin Ford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Real World ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Children And Young People

Abstract Digital health interventions (DHIs) have frequently been highlighted as one way to respond to increasing levels of mental health problems in children and young people. Whilst many are developed to address existing mental health problems, there is also potential for DHIs to address prevention and early intervention. However, there are currently limitations in the design and reporting of the development, evaluation and implementation of preventive DHIs that can limit their adoption into real-world practice. This scoping review aimed to examine existing evidence-based DHI interventions and review how well the research literature described factors that researchers need to include in their study designs and reports to support real-world implementation. A search was conducted for relevant publications published from 2013 onwards. Twenty-one different interventions were identified from 30 publications, which took a universal (n = 12), selective (n = 3) and indicative (n = 15) approach to preventing poor mental health. Most interventions targeted adolescents, with only two studies including children aged ≤10 years. There was limited reporting of user co-design involvement in intervention development. Barriers and facilitators to implementation varied across the delivery settings, and only a minority reported financial costs involved in delivering the intervention. This review found that while there are continued attempts to design and evaluate DHIs for children and young people, there are several points of concern. More research is needed with younger children and those from poorer and underserved backgrounds. Co-design processes with children and young people should be recognised and reported as a necessary component within DHI research as they are an important factor in the design and development of interventions, and underpin successful adoption and implementation. Reporting the type and level of human support provided as part of the intervention is also important in enabling the sustained use and implementation of DHIs.

What mental health promotion do university students need?

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 53-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Sokołowska ◽  
Lidia Zabłocka-Żytka ◽  
Sylwia Kluczyńska ◽  
Joanna Wojda-Kornacka
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Young People ◽  
University Students ◽  
Biopsychosocial Model ◽  
Emotional Health ◽  
Healthy Person ◽  
Mental Health Promotion ◽  
Open Questions

Abstract Our aim was to find out what university students expect of mental health promotion. 610 young people were asked a few open questions. 81% of respondents expressed an interest in mental health promotion activities. They associated promotional activities with physical, social and/or emotional health care. Basically, these positive expectations are in agreement with the biopsychosocial model of mental health formulated by the WHO (2005). No interest in the idea of promotion (11%) is caused by the erroneous assumption that mental health promotion is targeted at people with mental disorders; therefore, a mentally healthy person does not benefit from participating in such a programme.

scholarly journals Implementing Mental Health Promotion Initiatives—Process Evaluation of the ABCs of Mental Health in Denmark

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (16) ◽  
pp. 5819
Author(s):  
Carsten Hinrichsen ◽  
Vibeke Jenny Koushede ◽  
Katrine Rich Madsen ◽  
Line Nielsen ◽  
Nanna Gram Ahlmark ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Promotion ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Mental Health Awareness ◽  
Treatment And Prevention ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Impact

Treatment and prevention alone are unlikely to make a significant difference in reducing the burden of poor mental health and mental illness. Therefore, mental health promotion (MHP) initiatives are advocated. In 2014, the ABCs of mental health (ABCs) partnership was established in Denmark; in the partnership, partner organisations, e.g., municipalities and NGOs, use a research-based framework for MHP, the ABC-framework, to develop and implement MHP initiatives. This paper has two aims: (1) to outline the overall characteristics of these MHP initiatives; and (2) to explore local coordinator and stakeholder perceptions of the implementation processes and the impact of the MHP initiatives. Questionnaire surveys, individual interviews and group interviews were conducted during 2017–2020. The MHP initiatives were grouped according to three strategies: building MHP capacity, campaign activities to promote mental health awareness and knowledge and establishing and promoting opportunities to engage in mentally healthy activities. The ABC-framework was positively received and viewed as providing relevant knowledge for working with MHP as well as fostering intersectoral and interprofessional collaborations. However, using a bottom-up approach to develop and implement MHP initiatives can be time-consuming and resource demanding, and it requires a deliberate balancing of local adaptability and concrete guidance when engaging stakeholders and implementers. Overall, using the ABC-framework to develop and implement MHP initiatives holds great promise for advancing and promoting MHP practice.

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