Evaluation of a mental health literacy educational intervention for elementary teachers
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Nature and scope of the project: Over 16% of children ages two to eight have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder. However, there is an 11-year delay between the onset of symptoms and subsequent intervention. The project’s objectives are a 10% increase in teachers’ overall score on the Mental Health Literacy and Capacity Survey for Educators (MHLCSE) from T1 to T2, a 10% increase in teachers’ overall score on the Gatekeeper Behavior Scale (GBS) from T1 to T2, and a 5% increase in the utilization of the Bridge Program referral pro cess from T1 to T2. Synthesis and analysis of supporting literature: Yamaguchi et al. (2020), Baxter et al. (2022), and Liao et al. (2023) support the importance of mental health literacy (MHL) interventions for teachers, highlighting substantial improvements in knowledge, stigma, intention to help, and confidence to help. Project implementation: A 20-minute presentation was provided to teachers in January and February 2024, discussing the symptoms of mental illness in elementary students and how to refer them to the Bridge Program. Evaluation criteria: An evaluation of changes in outcomes to increase MHL and service utilization with baseline survey administration (T1), intervention implementation, and post-intervention survey administration (T2). Outcomes: Statistically significant increases were found for total scores in both the MHLCSE (p < .001, d = 1.6) and GBS (p = .004, d = .7). No statistically significant difference was observed in the number of students or teachers utilizing the Bridge Program. All project objectives were met and largely surpassed between T1 and T2, with a 24.1% increase in MHLCSE scores, an 11.2% increase in GBS scores, a 45.5% increase in the number of students recommended for referral, and a 20% increase in the number of teachers who recommended students for referral. Recommendations: MHL presentations should be provided to teachers annually at the beginning of each school year to ensure sustained effectiveness. It is reasonable to extend MHL education to secondary school teachers by adapting the presentation accordingly.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.