The program evaluation of 'Go-To Educator Training' on educators' knowledge about and stigma toward mental illness in six Canadian provinces

AIM

Schools are well positioned to promote mental health literacy and assist in the early identification of students who may have a mental disorder. However, many educators are unprepared to effectively address these issues. Enhancing this capacity may improve mental health outcomes for students. This report describes the application of a gatekeeper-type program, the 'Go-To Educator Training' (GTET), targeting educators whom students naturally gravitate toward for support, designed to improve educators' mental health knowledge and early identification skills and decrease stigma.

METHODS

GTET was conducted in six Canadian provinces (Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Alberta and Manitoba) (2012-2015), with 949 secondary school educators involved. Pre- and postintervention mental health knowledge and stigma surveys were completed. Paired t-tests assessed change in knowledge and stigma. ANCOVA compared knowledge and stigma change across subgroups. Correlation measured the relationship between knowledge and stigma.

RESULTS

Knowledge significantly improved (t[919] = 58.40, P < .001, d = 2.12) and stigma significantly decreased (t[872] = 4.52, P < .001, d = 0.14). Similar results were identified within each province/region. Knowledge and stigma were correlated before (N = 922, r = .18, P < .01) and after the training (N = 888, r = .22, P < .01).

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest GTET may be an effective school-based mental health related intervention. Further study is needed to measure its long-term impact and its role in addressing youth mental health care referrals.

Child mental health literacy training programmes for professionals in contact with children: A systematic review

AIMS

There has been a surge in child mental health literacy training programmes for non-mental health professionals. No previous review has examined the effectiveness of child mental literacy training on all professionals in contact with children.

METHODS

Studies were identified through a systematic literature search of the Cochrane, EMBASE, Medline, and PsycINFO databases in February 2019. The review included studies that delivered training to professionals who have regular contact with young people aged 0 to 19 in the context of their role and at least one component of mental health literacy; (a) knowledge, (b) attitudes, (c) confidence in helping, (d) intention to help and (e) actual helping behaviour. The quality of papers was reviewed using the Cochrane revised Risk of Bias Tool for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and the Integrated Quality Criteria for the Review of Multiple Study Designs for non RCTs.

RESULTS

Twenty-one studies met eligibility criteria (n = 3243). There was some evidence that global and specific child mental health literacy training improved professionals' knowledge and stigma-related attitudes towards mental health. Few studies investigated the impact of training on actual helping behaviour.

CONCLUSION

There may be value in providing child mental health literacy training to professionals in contact with children, however there is a need for studies to evaluate the long-term impact of such training, particularly on subsequent access to appropriate support. Findings raise concerns about the quality of the studies reported in the systematic review and recommendations are made for future studies.

The Building Educators' Skills in Adolescent Mental Health Training Program for Secondary School Educators: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Background

In Australia, secondary school educators are well positioned to recognize mental illness among students and provide support. However, many report that they lack the knowledge and confidence to do so, and few mental health training programs available for educators are evidence based. To address this gap, the Black Dog Institute (BDI) developed a web-based training program (Building Educators’ Skills in Adolescent Mental Health [BEAM]) that aims to improve mental health knowledge, confidence, and helping behaviors among secondary school educators in leadership positions. A pilot study of the training program found it to be positively associated with increased confidence and helping behaviors among educators and reduced personal psychological distress. An adequately powered randomized controlled trial (RCT) is needed.

Objective

The primary objective of this cluster RCT is to evaluate the effectiveness of the BEAM program for improving educators’ confidence in managing student mental health. The trial will also evaluate the effect of the BEAM program in increasing educators’ frequency of providing help to students and improving their mental health knowledge and reducing educators’ psychological distress and stigma toward students with mental health issues.

Methods

The target sample size is 234 educators from 47 secondary schools across New South Wales, Australia. Four waves of recruitment and enrollment into the trial are planned. Schools will participate in one wave only and will be randomized to the intervention or waitlist control conditions. Participants from the same school will be assigned to the same condition. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, posttest (10 weeks after baseline), and follow-up (22 weeks after baseline) using the BDI eHealth research platform. Intervention participants will receive access to the BEAM program for 10 weeks upon completion of baseline, and the control condition will receive access for 10 weeks upon completion of the follow-up assessment.

Results

Recruitment for this trial began on July 21, 2020, with the first baseline assessments occurring on August 17, 2020. To date, 295 participants from 71 schools have completed baseline. Due to the unexpected success of recruitment in the first 3 waves, the final fourth wave has been abandoned. Intervention participants are currently receiving the program, with follow-up due for completion in March 2021.

Conclusions

This is one of the first RCTs to examine the effectiveness of a web-based adolescent mental health training program for Australian secondary school educators in leadership positions. If found to be effective, this training program will offer a sustainable and scalable delivery method for upskilling educators in caring for students’ mental health.

Trial Registration

Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12620000876998; https://covid-19.cochrane.org/studies/crs-14669208

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/25870

Mental health literacy programs for school teachers: A systematic review and narrative synthesis

AIM

The prevalence of mental disorders increases sharply during adolescence. Therefore, school teachers are in a good position to provide initial assistance to students with mental health problems. Although effects of a number of mental health literacy programs aimed at teachers have been reported, they have not yet been reviewed in a systematic manner. This study conducted a systematic review of the effectiveness of mental health literacy programs for teachers.

METHODS

PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, ERIC, Web of Science and reference lists of included studies were searched in September 2018. Studies that quantitatively measured at least one of the main components of mental health literacy, including (a) knowledge of mental illnesses, (b) stigma towards mental illnesses, (c) confidence in helping students, and (d) behaviour of helping students, were included regardless of study design. Risk of bias was rated for each included study according to the Cochrane tool for randomized studies and the Cochrane tool, for raondomized studies, and the Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for Nonrandomized Studies (RoBANS), for nonrandomized studies.

RESULTS

Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria, including 1 randomized controlled trial (RCT), 2 cluster RCTs, 1 controlled before-and-after study and 12 case series. Most of the studies claimed significant improvement of knowledge, attitudes, behaviour and/or confidence. However, the overall quality for all outcomes was relatively low; 15 studies had high/unclear risk of bias due to lack of allocation concealment, not controlling for confounders, and/or inadequate analysis for attrition.

CONCLUSIONS

More high quality evidence is required before the effectiveness of mental health literacy programs for teachers can be established.

Preparing for the Classroom: Mental Health Knowledge Improvement, Stigma Reduction and Enhanced Help-Seeking Efficacy in Canadian Preservice Teachers

Mental health literacy is fundamental to improving knowledge about mental health, decreasing stigma, and, therefore, enhancing help-seeking behaviors. The purpose of this cohort study is to evaluate the impact of a mental health literacy program on preservice teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and help-seeking efficacy. Sixty preservice teachers in a Canadian university participated in a professional development day and completed a survey of their mental health knowledge, attitudes toward mental illness, and help-seeking efficacy. Compared with baseline data, results demonstrated significant and substantial improvements on all three outcomes immediately following the session and after 3 months. Provision of mental health literacy education among preservice teachers may be an effective approach to help them better address student mental health needs in their future teaching career.