Coping in Action
Coping in Action is a program designed to equip students in grades 5 and 6 with ways to manage stress, solve problems and destigmatize seeking help when needed.
Coping in Action is an evidence-informed program that can be facilitated by student support staff. The program is designed to support the mental health and well-being of students in grades 5 and 6.
School Mental Health Ontario partnered with Harvard University to provide student support staff with the CALM Quest and SOLVE Squad programs, each of which contains a Coping Kit activity adapted from the Brief Coping Interventions (BCIs) online Coping Kits. Program activities can be used to explore calming and problem-solving strategies with students, as well as destigmatizing seeking help when needed.
Why are coping strategies important?
Students experience a variety of emotions and stressors as an essential part of their learning and development and arrive to school with coping strategies already shaped by their families, cultures, communities and lived experiences. Sharing practical coping strategies in a group or class setting reinforces that everyone needs life skills that can support their mental health and well-being and help them navigate everyday life moments.
Student support staff can use this evidence-informed identity-affirming resource to promote the mental health and well-being of students and bolster their strategies.
Who can facilitate Coping in Action?
The programs within Coping in Action can be facilitated by student support staff in a small-group or class-wide format. If the programs are delivered in a classroom, student support staff will partner with the educator.
About student support staff
The role of student support staff varies across school boards, and may be referred to in a variety of ways and can include a range of specific roles, such as Child and Youth Counsellors (CYC), chaplains, graduation coaches, etc. In some boards, student support staff may work under other role titles. Although their titles may differ, their work remains the same: connecting with and supporting students and families.
Student support staff play an integral role in promoting the mental health and well-being of students, noticing signs of mental health concerns early, and linking students, parents and caregivers to other supports when needed. As staff rooted in relationships and often working in the spaces where students’ lives unfold, student support staff use daily moments to create caring conditions in schools and classrooms, foster school connectedness, support social-emotional skill development, and promote help-seeking for students.
Student support staff often collaborate with other school staff, including educators and regulated school mental health professionals, to support students. This may involve reinforcing skill development and strategies to support mental health and well-being, co-facilitating small group or classroom initiatives, working collectively to support a shared goal, etc.
How can the materials for Coping in Action be accessed?
Materials for board implementation teams and program facilitators are available via the School Mental Health Ontario Leadership Portal. Please contact your mental health leader for more information.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2008). The effects of childhood stress on health across the lifespan. http://health-equity.lib.umd.edu/932/1/Childhood_Stress.pdf
Van Daele, T., Hermans, D., Van Audenhove, C., & Van den Bergh, O. (2012). Stress reduction through psychoeducation: A meta-analytic review. Health Education & Behavior, 39(4), 474–485. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198111419202
Cohen, K. A., Ito, S., Ahuvia, I. L., Yang, Y., Zhang, Y., Renshaw, T. L., Larson, M., Cook, C., Hill, S., Liao, J., Rapoport, A., Smock, A., Yang, M., & Schleider, J. L. (2024). Brief school-based interventions targeting student mental health or well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 27(3), 732–806. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-024-00487-2
Sofianopoulou, K., Bacopoulou, F., Vlachakis, D., Kokka, I., Alexopoulos, E., Varvogli, L., Chrousos, G. P., & Darviri, C. (2021). Stress management in elementary school students: A pilot randomised controlled trial. EMBnet.journal, 26, e976. https://doi.org/10.14806/ej.26.1.976
Fitzpatrick, O. M., Schleider, J. L., Mair, P., Harisinghani, A., Carson, A., & Weisz, J. R. (2023). Project SOLVE: Randomized, school-based trial of a single-session digital problem-solving intervention for adolescent internalizing symptoms during the coronavirus era.