Mental Health in Schools: Inspiring evidence-informed dialogue and practice using a School-Based Mental Health Learning Forum

Schools are the best place to promote positive child and youth mental health Opportunity to reach many children and youth who wouldn’t normally seek help All children can benefit from building skills for coping with stress, managing relationships, and self-reflection 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

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

How do we support children’s mental health in schools? Domain of Mental Health Treatment Domain of Student Engagement and Mental Health Promotion Universal Mental Health Promotion Programming Student Engagement Efforts School/Class-wide social-emotional learning Selected Interventions Programming for at-risk students Targeted Interventions Programming for Identified students Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3

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

Challenges in supporting student mental health in schools Inconsistency in educator comfort in dealing with mental health issues Difficult for educators to access reliable information about mental health Educators need support to implement interventions with fidelity Research may not seem relevant to complexities of school life

Enablers for supporting student mental health in schools Research – There is a strong evidence-base in child and youth mental health Cross-Sectoral Collaboration Alignment Policy

The Research–Practice Relationship World of Research World of Schools Knowledge Brokering Adapted from Riley, 2005 Linkage Opportunities Exchange Vehicles

How can we use practice- based evidence to encourage timely and relevant research about student mental health? How can we assist education professionals to use evidence-based practices to promote student mental health?

Bringing the Worlds Closer Together Offord Centre HWDSB Adapted from Riley, 2005 SBMH Learning Forum Live Forums and Electronic Platforms Knowledge Brokering

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.

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.

SBMH Learning Forum - Description Knowledge exchange platform Community of Practice model 1.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 2.Feasibility Pilot - Behavior Pathway Focus School-Based Mental Health professionals as participant “audience”

Knowledge Brokering Continuum Didactic Prescriptive Inquiry-minded Conversational Specific Knowledge to Action Link Diffuse Knowledge to Action Link Passive exchange vehicles Active exchange vehicles Nature of interactions Linearity Exchange Vehicles Driven by research availability Driven by audience needs, capacities Linkage Points Gardner, 2008

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.

Mental Health in Schools: Inspiring evidence-informed dialogue and practice using a School-Based Mental Health Learning Forum Contact Us: Scott Davies, Sam Gardner, Kathy Short,

SBMH Learning Forum 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 Knowledge Brokering Team: Dr. Scott Davies (Co-Chair, Offord) Sam Gardner (Co-Chair, Offord) Dr. Kathy Short (Co-Chair, HWDSB)