How to select school mental health awareness initiatives
Our decision support tools are designed to support the decision-making process related to particular mental health awareness products or services, and aim to ensure alignment with the board/school mental health strategy and action plan.
There are many different options for mental health awareness building at school, including one-time presentations, videos, social media campaigns, written/web materials and/or surveys. It can be hard to know what to select for your school or board.
If we’re not careful, we could select a program that has unintended negative effects. For example, it triggers vulnerable students, or it requires significant resources to implement and disrupts the overall plan. It’s important to make sure mental health programming is evidence-based and aligned to your board’s mental health plan and/or school’s improvement plan.
- part of a comprehensive plan, not a one-off presentation
- aligned with school and board mental health initiatives
- evidence-based or evidence-informed
- delivered in the appropriate format for the audience
- appropriate content for the audience
- inclusive and culturally sensitive
- parent/guardian awareness and consent
- consideration of risks for vulnerable students
- follow-up support/opportunity for debriefing