Mental Health in Schools:

1
Mental Health in Schools

• Inspiring evidence-informed dialogue and practice
  using a School-Based Mental Health Learning Forum

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Schools are the best place to promote positive
child and youth mental health
All children can benefit from building skills for
coping with stress, managing relationships, and
self-reflection
Opportunity to reach many children and youth who
wouldnt normally seek help
Programs can be delivered universally, minimizing
stigma and maximizing the advantage of peer
modelling
Educators can help to identify students that
require more intensive intervention
3
There is a significant relationship between
student mental health and achievement
If we are serious about narrowing the gap, we
need to understand that students with mental
health issues perform less well in school, and
frequently disengage over time
4
How do we support childrens mental health in
schools?
Domain of Student Engagement and Mental Health
Promotion
Domain of Mental Health Treatment
5
Universal Mental Health Promotion Choosing
Healthy Actions Thoughts

• Class-wide depression prevention program
• Grade 7 teacher and SBMH professional
• Aligned with Ontario Curriculum expectations
• Manual, DVD, workbook
• Collaboration with Harvard, Offord Centre
• Randomized Trial

CHAT
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Challenges in supporting student mental health in
schools
Difficult for educators to access reliable
information about mental health
Inconsistency in educator comfort in dealing with
mental health issues
Research may not seem relevant to complexities of
school life
Educators need support to implement interventions
with fidelity
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Enablers for supporting student mental health in
schools
Policy
Cross-Sectoral Collaboration
Alignment
Research There is a strong evidence-base in
child and youth mental health
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The ResearchPractice Relationship
Linkage Opportunities
World of Research
World of Schools
Exchange Vehicles
Adapted from Riley, 2005
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How can we assist education professionals to use
evidence-based practices to promote student
mental health?
How can we use practice-based evidence to
encourage timely and relevant research about
student mental health?
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Bringing the Worlds Closer Together
SBMH Learning Forum
Offord Centre
HWDSB
Knowledge Brokering
Live Forums and Electronic Platforms
Adapted from Riley, 2005
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SBMH Learning Forum - Mission

• The Learning Forum is designed to create a
  platform for dialogue, amongst scientists and
  school-based practitioners in the area of student
  mental health, that will lead to enhanced use of
  empirically-supported practices.

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SBMH Learning Forum - Goals
To facilitate opportunities for
scientist-practitioner dialogue  To enhance
practitioner knowledge about the current
evidence-base related to mental health problems
experienced by students   To provide a vehicle
for dissemination of scientific findings that is
'closer to the ground' and, as such, may have
greater potential for uptake of evidence-based
practices. To stimulate new collaborative
programs of research that are rooted in
practice-based evidence.  
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SBMH Learning Forum - Description

• Knowledge exchange platform
• Community of Practice model
• Feasibility Pilot School Focus
• Secondary school educators as participant
  audience
• Focus on mental health literacy for educators,
  opportunities for researchers to join school
  life, regular dialogue about evidence-informed
  mental health practice, creation of e-Forum
• Funded by Provincial Centre of Excellence for
  Child and Youth Mental Health at CHEO
• Feasibility Pilot - Behavior Pathway Focus
• School-Based Mental Health professionals as
  participant audience

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Knowledge Brokering Continuum
Gardner, 2008
Nature of interactions
Linearity
Exchange Vehicles
Linkage Points
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Knowledge Mobilization and Implementation Science
Lab
The KM Lab aims to determine, via systematic
study, optimal ways to mobilize research
knowledge to facilitate the sustained integration
of evidence-informed practices within schools,
and to share learnings with others.  
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Mental Health in Schools

• Inspiring evidence-informed dialogue and practice
  using a School-Based Mental Health Learning Forum
• Contact Us
• Scott Davies, daviesrs_at_mcmaster.ca
• Sam Gardner, gardners_at_mcmaster.ca
• Kathy Short, Kathy.Short_at_hwdsb.on.ca

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SBMH Learning Forum
Knowledge Brokering Team Dr. Scott Davies
(Co-Chair, Offord) Sam Gardner (Co-Chair,
Offord) Dr. Kathy Short (Co-Chair, HWDSB)
Dr. Kathy Bennett (Offord) Julie Bodden
(Offord) Don Buchanan (Offord) Dr. Jean Clinton
(Offord) Patricia Colton (Offord) Lawrie Cook
(HWDSB)
Supt. Vicki Corcoran (HWDSB) Supt. Krys Croxall
(HWDSB) Angela Ferguson (HWDSB) Dr. Caroline
Parkin (Offord) Dale Pyke (HWDSB) Supt. Pam
Reinholdt (HWDSB