Lessons learnt from the field: a qualitative evaluation of adolescent experiences of a universal mental health education program

Abstract

teen Mental Health First Aid (teenMHFA) is a school-based mental health program that trains adolescents to support peers who are experiencing mental health problems or crises. The program has been evaluated for adolescents aged 15–18 years as part of a randomized controlled trial, however qualitative feedback from students on their perceptions of the program is yet to be explored. The current study describes the perspectives of students who took part in the trial. Feedback on the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the program was provided by 979 Year 10 students (M = 15.82 years, female = 43.94%, English as a first language = 72.77%) at four government funded public schools in Melbourne, Australia via online surveys. A content and thematic analysis was performed on the data using a six-step process. Students generally found the program relevant and they connected with the visual material, personal stories and interactive activities. Suggestions for improvements included encouraging active student participation in classroom discussion and providing opportunities to practice skills. School-based mental health education can benefit from input from stakeholder perspectives, particularly when designing mental health content for delivery by external trainers.

Effectiveness of teen Mental Health First Aid in Improving Teen‐to‐Teen Support Among American Adolescents*

“…Importance of high-quality implementation with interaction. Consistent with feedback provided in Australia, 23 some instructors and students reported too much didactic material and a need for more interactive activities.…”

“…21,22 Three trials of tMHFA have been conducted in Australia, including two randomized controlled trials, finding increased mental health literacy as well as reduced stigmatizing attitudes immediately following tMHFA and 1 year later. 12,16,22,23 tMHFA also showed a statistically significant increase in Australian adolescents' recognition of and support for suicidal peers. 24 Full details of the US adaptation process of tMHFA are summarized elsewhere.…”

Want to improve school mental health interventions? Ask young people what they actually think

“…A better solution might be to do away with personal group discussions altogether and focus on the experiences of real or fictitious students outside the immediate classroom. For instance, one evaluation of the Teen Mental Health First Aid programme in Australia—which is designed to help young people support their peers who have mental health problems—found that participants particularly liked watching videos of other young people describing their lived experience of such difficulties (Johnson et al., 2021). Whatever approach is taken, the viewpoint and developmental needs of adolescents should be considered during classroom‐based activities, ideally when the intervention is being designed so that changes don't have to be made on an ad‐hoc basis.…”

Applying the Cloud Intelligent Classroom to the Music Curriculum Design of the Mental Health Education

“…The role of students is “acting” mainly to complete autonomous learning, ask questions, and share results. Then, the teachers and students are evaluated in the cloud intelligent classrooms, fully highlighting the central position of students (Wu et al, 2019 ; Johnson et al, 2021 ; Yi et al, 2021 ). The teaching model based on cloud intelligent classrooms is shown in Figure 2 .…”