Opportunities in the Australian national education initiative for promoting mental health in schools

Hoare, Erin; Thorp, Andrew; Bartholomeusz-Raymond, Nadine; McCoy, Alicia; Berk, Michael

doi:10.1016/s2352-4642(19)30338-4

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Young people 113 at clinical high risk for depression/anxiety disorders have been detected through psychometric screening for sub-threshold symptoms in schools, universities or primary care 114,115 , typically following selective/universal screening 116 . However, results do not suggest that such screening is ready for wider use.…”

Section: Common Mental Disordersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preventive psychiatry: a blueprint for improving the mental health of young people

et al. 2021

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Preventive approaches have latterly gained traction for improving mental health in young people. In this paper, we first appraise the conceptual foundations of preventive psychiatry, encompassing the public health, Gordon's, US Institute of Medicine, World Health Organization, and good mental health frameworks, and neurodevelopmentally‐sensitive clinical staging models. We then review the evidence supporting primary prevention of psychotic, bipolar and common mental disorders and promotion of good mental health as potential transformative strategies to reduce the incidence of these disorders in young people. Within indicated approaches, the clinical high‐risk for psychosis paradigm has received the most empirical validation, while clinical high‐risk states for bipolar and common mental disorders are increasingly becoming a focus of attention. Selective approaches have mostly targeted familial vulnerability and non‐genetic risk exposures. Selective screening and psychological/psychoeducational interventions in vulnerable subgroups may improve anxiety/depressive symptoms, but their efficacy in reducing the incidence of psychotic/bipolar/common mental disorders is unproven. Selective physical exercise may reduce the incidence of anxiety disorders. Universal psychological/psychoeducational interventions may improve anxiety symptoms but not prevent depressive/anxiety disorders, while universal physical exercise may reduce the incidence of anxiety disorders. Universal public health approaches targeting school climate or social determinants (demographic, economic, neighbourhood, environmental, social/cultural) of mental disorders hold the greatest potential for reducing the risk profile of the population as a whole. The approach to promotion of good mental health is currently fragmented. We leverage the knowledge gained from the review to develop a blueprint for future research and practice of preventive psychiatry in young people: integrating universal and targeted frameworks; advancing multivariable, transdiagnostic, multi‐endpoint epidemiological knowledge; synergically preventing common and infrequent mental disorders; preventing physical and mental health burden together; implementing stratified/personalized prognosis; establishing evidence‐based preventive interventions; developing an ethical framework, improving prevention through education/training; consolidating the cost‐effectiveness of preventive psychiatry; and decreasing inequalities. These goals can only be achieved through an urgent individual, societal, and global level response, which promotes a vigorous collaboration across scientific, health care, societal and governmental sectors for implementing preventive psychiatry, as much is at stake for young people with or at risk for emerging mental disorders.

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Section: Common Mental Disordersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preventive psychiatry: a blueprint for improving the mental health of young people

et al. 2021

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“…A consistent recommendation throughout the identified meta-analytic research was to work towards embedding depression prevention for young people in school systems to reduce the risks of single stand-alone programs which often do not continue beyond funding duration, and to normalise prevention activities. Examples of depression prevention becoming embedded in education systems are currently underway in Australia (Hoare, Thorp et al, 2020) and the United Kingdom (Glazzard, 2019), and long term evaluation of such initiatives will provide important insights for future depression prevention at scale.…”

Section: Findings In Context Of Previous Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Universal depression prevention: An umbrella review of meta-analyses

Hoare

Collins

Marx

et al. 2021

Journal of Psychiatric Research

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“…There are a number of features of the initiative which may have implications for population mental health. Some of these implications have been highlighted previously, including the need for rigorous outcome, process and other evaluation (Hoare et al, 2019), and further detailed here.…”

Section: Implications For Population Mental Health Of Children and Yomentioning

confidence: 73%

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

Hoare

Thorp²,

Bartholomeusz-Raymond³

et al. 2020

Aust N Z J Psychiatry

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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.

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Opportunities in the Australian national education initiative for promoting mental health in schools

Cited by 8 publications

References 7 publications

Preventive psychiatry: a blueprint for improving the mental health of young people

Preventive psychiatry: a blueprint for improving the mental health of young people

Universal depression prevention: An umbrella review of meta-analyses

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

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