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By post Elizabeth Moore

Project Associate, Intercamhs

c/o Center for School Mental Health Assistance

University of Maryland School of Medicine

680 West Lexington Street, 10th Floor

Baltimore, MD 21201

USA

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Newsletter

July 2006

image
This diagram illustrates the relative proportion of students in a school setting who may benefit from these four types of interventions.
  1. 1. Universal mental health promotion, which seeks to improve school psychosocial environments, skills-based health education for social, emotional learning and brings resources and programmes to all students to promote health, successful teaching and learning and academic success;
  2. 2. Selective interventions, which provide prevention programmes for young people  and families, presenting risk factors for problems;
  3. 3. Indicated interventions, which provide early interventions to young people and families, exhibiting emotional and behavioural problems; and
  4. 4. Treatment, which provides more intensive services to youth and families, presenting establish emotional/behavioural problems.

These four types of interventions are necessary for to promote mental health and to intervene to prevent and treat mental illness. 

1.  Universal mental health promotion addresses an entire school community by creating an inclusive and supportive environment, where students and personnel feel safe and connected to the school.  Focusing on the health of a school community, instead of simply the prevention of mental illness, requires a holistic approach to mental health. 

Varying forms of support can exist through a range of elements that create supportive environments for mental health. These elements interact and overlap:

  • the places in school settings: the classroom, the school buildings and environs, the school climate and the local area;
  • the people: the students, teachers, other school staff, families, health and community workers;
  • the processes and practices: decision-making, participation, caring, information exchange;
  • the policies involving the guidelines for action and for resource allocation; and
  • the programmes for the coordinated learning in classrooms and across the school activities that occur. (Rowling & Burr, 1997)

Universal initiatives “address a range of generic risk factors” and can increase the sense of self worth or resilience among students.  How well does the Intercamhs definition represent your work?

Which type(s) of intervention do you address in your work?

Join the webboard discussion: http://boards.edc.org:8080/ ~intercamhs-publicThese programmes may also focus on increasing skills related to emotional learning, which have been shown to improve academic performance and overall health (WHO, 2004).

Stewart-Brown’s synthesis of reviews reports that programmes involving the whole school show the most positive results in promoting the mental health of students (Stewart-Brown, 2006). This was especially true when programmes were implemented with the principles of the “Health Promoting Schools approach”, consistent with Intercamhs:

  • involvement of the whole school,
  • changes to the school psychosocial environment,
  • personal skill development,
  • involvement of parents and the wider community, and
  • implementation over a long period of time.

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and The Search Institute provide a number of tools for designing mental health promotion programmes for schools and syntheses of the research on the link between social and emotional learning and academic achievement.

Ger Halbert is approaching her work in Ireland with a universal approach to mental health promotion by developing a social, personal and health education curriculum for schools in Ireland. The programme builds students’ social and emotional skills, while also increasing the capacity of schools and teachers to nurture the psychosocial development of students. (Read Ms. Halbert’s story)

2.  Selective Interventions target young people who are at higher risk for mental health problems due to specific (biological, psychological or social) risk factors. Prevention of Mental Disorders: Effective Interventions and Policy Options, reviews many types of interventions for children who exhibit signs of conduct disorders, aggression or violence. Authors suggest that intervention strategies which target both parents and their children can help to reduce risk factors, and conduct problems. For example, school-organised programs focusing on social and problem-solving skills, along with parent management skills resulted in “a decrease in negative parent-child interactions and teacher ratings of conduct problems at school” (WHO, 2004).

Abdulai Sulemana’s work with the Ghana Education Service focuses on students who have special needs. These students are often at high risk for behavioural and mental health problems and can benefit from selective interventions. They are ostracised and can develop mental health problems when they are not supported to cope with their particular learning needs. Mr. Sulemana and his team are developing a selective intervention to train teachers to identify students with special needs and provide appropriate learning conditions so they are better able to succeed academically.(Read Mr. Sulemana’s story)

3.  Indicated interventions are for youth exhibiting emotional and behavioural problems.  A review of research on school-based health centers (SBHCs) indicates that these services can have a significant impact on health status and health behaviours, including various indicators of mental health:  alcohol/ tobacco/ drug use, emotional problems, intentional injuries and self-esteem (Geirstanger & Amaral, 2005). The availability of mental health services can play a critical role in reducing the prevalence of mental illness. School-based health centers provide valuable counselling and resources to students who seek help or who are referred by other school personnel.

Abner Richard’s work in St. Vincent in the Caribbean is with youth, who start to exhibit behavioural problems and who are referred by teachers.  As the psychologist for primary school students, Ms. Richard provides individual counselling; she also facilitates group sessions to build student skills.  These indicated interventions seem to have an impact on improving student behaviour and academic performance and may prevent more intense mental health problems. (Read Ms. Richard’s story).

4.  Treatment provides intensive services to youth presenting established emotional/ behavioural problems. Although many schools may not have treatment services readily available on site, establishing relationships with community agencies can greatly facilitate the treatment for students who need them. These services may be needed by only a small fraction of the student population, somewhere between 3-12%, but the critical element is that there are no barriers to students who need and seek these services.

Jenni Jennings’ work with School-Based Health Centers addresses students’ mental health, through mental health evaluations, group and family therapy and referrals for more intense treatment when necessary. (Read Ms. Jenning’s story)

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Voices from our members

Intercamhs members around the world are working on diverse aspects of school mental health efforts to both improve mental health of students and to improve their ability to succeed academically and in their lives. In this newsletter, we share the experiences of four Intercamhs members including their work and its relationship to the Intercamhs approach described above. For a directory of members, follow the instructions at: http://www.intercamhs.org/html/member_database.html .

Share your story with Intercamhs!

Reading stories of others’ work in the field of mental health and schools can be a powerful reminder of our common goals. To share your stories and experiences, for a future newsletter, please contact us at: [email protected] or call Mora Oommen at 617-618-2845 or fax 617-527-4096.

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Ger Halbert

National Counsel for Curriculum and Assessment

Ireland

As Education Officer, Ms. Halbert oversees curriculum development for schools in Ireland.  Most recently, she has worked to develop and implement a “social, personal and health education” curriculum, a universal strategy to build social and emotional skills of students while also improving the capacity of school personnel to nurture the development of students.

Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) is part of the core curriculum in primary education (4 – 12 years) and junior cycle, post-primary (12 – 15 years). Both SPHE curricula are designed as enabling curricula where teachers and schools can select learning outcomes that are appropriate for their students. The SPHE curricula are spiral in their design, meaning that the same modules can be re-visited at different times with a particular emphasis which is more appropriate and relevant to the students. At primary level, a team of primary teachers with particular expertise in SPHE support the implementation of SPHE in primary schools. At second level, in junior cycle, a partnership between the Department of Education and Science and Department of Health and Children combine expertise to provide an SPHE support service for teachers and schools. Training and support at both levels focuses on providing professional development for SPHE teachers and training and support for whole school staffs and management in support of their role in the social, personal and health education of students.

The primary cycle curriculum focuses on 3 different levels: 

  1. “It’s me”, which covers taking care of oneself, including personal hygiene and personal responsibility;
  2. “Me and my community”, expanding to interpersonal issues such as participating in a school or other community;
  3. “Me and my world” which addresses citizenship and broader ways to contribute to society. 

The aims of the SPHE curriculum in junior cycle are to develop skills for self-fulfillment and living in communities, to promote self-esteem and self-confidence, to enable students to develop a framework for responsible decision-making, to provide opportunities for reflection and discussion and to promote physical, mental and emotional health and well-being. The SPHE curriculum in junior cycle focuses on 12 modules covering topics such as belonging and integrating, emotional/ physical and sexual health, self-esteem and making informed decisions. Schools are required to offer one period per week for SPHE in each of the three years of junior cycle education. SPHE teachers in junior cycle teach other subjects and it is strongly recommended that teachers take on teaching SPHE voluntarily and are not assigned it without prior consultation. Ms. Halbert is responsible for the development of the SPHE curriculum for senior cycle students (15 – 18 years). Planning for the SPHE curriculum framework in senior cycle will be completed in the next academic year. There will a particular emphasis on training for SPHE teachers in support of active teaching methodologies, experiential learning and teachers’ ability to handle the complex issues that may arise during SPHE lessons in senior cycle.

“One of the first times the health agency and the education agency collaborated was during the development of our social and personal health education curriculum for junior cycle students.”

-Ger HalbertDevelopments in SPHE in Ireland over the last decade and a half have been informed amongst other influences, by Ireland’s participation in the European Health Promoting Schools (HPS). This initiative focused on creating an international consensus on the concept of the health promoting school – building a living and working environment that creates and strengthens health. Schools were encouraged to consider four areas: the school environment – physical and social; the SPHE programme; the involvement of parents and the community; policies that address health issues. During the original implementation of HPS, the evaluation found that while the concepts of the health promoting schools were extremely effective and well-received, schools had difficulty sustaining the programs once the funding and support ceased. Teachers and administrators once enthused by the idea had trouble staying motivated to pursue the program. In some instances, the Health Service Executive at local level have assumed the mantle of supporting schools in becoming health promoting schools by introducing a tiered award system and this has had a re-vitalising effect.

In Ireland, the similarities and connections between SPHE and Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) is recognized. While each of the subjects address a specific area of the student’s holistic education, each subject draws heavily on constructivist and active learning methodologies. Developments in professional development for teachers may in the future include training for all teachers on these active methodologies, which can be used in support of teaching and learning in any subject and can support universal mental health promotion efforts. This approach to mental health promotion which encourages teachers and students to take an active part in creating a supportive and inclusive school environment has shown signs of success based on anecdotal evidence.

The preliminary evaluation data shows that SPHE is having an impact on both the teachers and the students. Teachers have started to integrate more active participative methodologies into the teaching of their primary subjects. An unanticipated outcome of the implementation of SPHE has been teachers’ own positive personal experience in relation to their participation in professional development for SPHE. They feel more capable of managing their own stress and emotions, which they see as beneficial to their work and their lives.

One implementation challenge has been ensuring that all schools deliver a quality SPHE programme. The evaluation data to date suggests strongly that the appointment of an SPHE co-oordinator in the school to support teaching and learning in SPHE, the collaborative development of relevant policies and the promotion of a supportive whole school environment for SPHE is critical. Where schools follow this practice, the SPHE experience has been found to be more effective. Ms. Halbert’s future goals include the completion of the curriculum framework for SPHE in senior cycle and exploring the inclusion of training for teaching SPHE in pre-service teacher education. “I believe this would help pre-service teachers be familiar with SPHE, integrate active methodologies and the associated beliefs into their way of teaching from the start of their careers, which seems easier than asking teachers to ‘un-learn’ their teaching style after being trained intensively in their primary subject.” 

The SPHE curriculum information can be found at: http://www.sphe.ie/teachers.htm

CONNECTION TO INTERCAMHS APPROACH TO MH AND SCHOOLS: 

Universal mental health promotion

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Abdulai Sulemana

Greater Accra Regional Education Offices of Special Education

Ghana

Mr. Sulemana has worked for the Ghana Education Service for 20 years, 1986-2006.  The Ghana Education Division, one of the ten Divisions of the Ghana Education Service is responsible for the education and training of children with special educational needs, and implements the policies of the Education Ministry.  Currently, Mr. Sulemana is the Coordinator for the Greater Accra Regional Education Offices of Special Education and he leads a team which arranges education programmes for students with mental retardation, low vision, blindness; hearing impairment/loss and other developmental/learning disabilities. 

“Every child will have the needed support education to access quality basic education, to acquire skills that will assist them to develop their potential, to facilitate poverty reduction and to promote socio-economic growth and national development, irrespective of his/her disability.”A recent initiative undertaken by Mr. Sulemana was to pilot Inclusive Education Strategies within and around Accra in 3 Regions: Greater Accra, Eastern and Central.  Typically, students with special needs are identified in school and are then sent to specialised schools.  Inclusive education involves preparing mainstream schools to support students with special needs to thrive in that school environment, rather than to transfer them to separate schools. 

The overarching goal is to reduce the effects of disabilities or prevent the occurrence of learning and other developmental problems later in life for children presumed to be at risk for such problems. The objectives of this initiative are to train teachers and school administrators to:

1.  Identify accurately and as early as possible students with special needs;

2.  Offer appropriate learning experiences for them, and

3.  Promote tolerance and understanding for these students who are often

marginalised.

Special needs, and more broadly, mental health issues are primarily seen in Ghana as conditions that are untreatable—in schools, this means that students with mental health issues are considered stupid, and unable to learn. These students often do not experience the nurturing learning environments that would allow them to succeed in school. Instead this lack of attention may in turn lead to the development of mental health problems.  Research from Ghana indicates that late identification of students with special needs may exacerbate behavioural problems such as aggression, hyperactivity, and self-injury (Hayford & Avoke, 1997).  Also noticed among this group of individuals were poor attention span, poor memory, inability to follow instruction, inability to work with peers, uninterested in class work and perseveration.  All of these indicators demonstrate the need to better prepare teachers to identify students to provide more supportive learning environments for students with special needs. 

Mr. Sulemana is optimistic that Ghana is making progress on this front. Ghana is among one of the first African countries to train teachers for schools dedicated to special needs, dating back to 1965.  This history, coupled with recent efforts, seems to be having a positive impact on the community at large, and especially on parents of students with special needs, who are very appreciative of the work.  There is an increased awareness that keeping students together helps all students thrive, and that everyone is responsible for ensuring that youth are receiving a proper education. 

Mr. Sulemana realises that this process will require a lot of work and remains positive:  “It is not an easy task to implement this programme in remaining regions of the country– it will call for a systematic and strategic planning process with the commitment of all stakeholders. Irrespective of his/her disability, every child must have access to quality basic education, acquire skills that will assist them to develop their potential and to facilitate poverty reduction and promote socio-economic growth and national development.”

CONNECTION TO INTERCAMHS APPROACH TO MH AND SCHOOLS: 

Indicated Interventions

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Abner Richards

Ministry of Education

St. Vincent Island, Caribbean

Abner Richards works in the curriculum development unit of the Ministry of education in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean as a psychiatric nurse.  She is responsible for providing counselling in two primary schools.  Ms. Richards visits each school two times per week: in the mornings, she conducts individual counselling sessions with children; in the afternoons, she facilitates group activities. 

Ms. Richards leads sessions with entire classes of children on a variety of topics.  Sessions she has recently facilitated with primary school classes include activities related to sharing feelings, improving self-esteem, stigma and the psycho-social aspects of HIV/ AIDS, or other issues of interest to the school administration.  These selective intervention sessions are conducted by Ms. Richards herself, or by guests from the local community. “It is important that we build connections with the broader community. Students seem to enjoy the additional perspectives that a guest brings to a given topic area

“We know once [students] are psychologically well—they are going to be well-rounded, and be able to perform academically.” -Abner RichardsThe individual sessions are with students who are either referred by teachers or who themselves come forward, indicating interest in attending counselling. This indicated intervention offers early guidance for students who have already started to exhibit emotional or behavioural problems. Similarly, at a new secondary school counselling programme, teachers refer students due to the behaviour problems that have an impact on their academic performance.  The students attend the center for counselling as well as academic work/ tutoring. Individualised plans are then established for the students, and their progress is monitored on a regular basis. These programmes engage educators in the process of assessing students’ mental health and create integrated support for the academic success and mental health of students. 

 “What has been of great interest to me is that students actually enjoy coming to centre, which helps them respond positively to the emphasis on improving their academics.  We have made sure the environment is supportive of students.  If the new programme shows evidence of having impact on both behaviour and academics, we hope that the programme will be duplicated in other schools.” 

Anecdotally, Ms. Richards finds that teachers perceive the benefits and need for “One of the strengths of the programme is due to the fact that children are more readily willing to admit their problem and willing to share their feelings. If we help them continue to be this honest beyond primary school, it will serve them well as they grow up.” the programme.  Teachers comment that since children have been going to counselling, they have noticed improved behaviour in their classroom.  In addition, their study habits improve, and there seems to be an improvement in their grades as well.  As teachers see changes in children’s behaviour, they are encouraged to be understanding of all students in their class: “This week, I observed a teacher being very patient and giving a student a second chance [to improve his/her behaviour]. I believe it was due to the changes they see in the other students who come to counselling.”

One of the most difficult challenges in Ms. Richard’s  work is that though the child may be making progress in the context of the counselling session, or school, his/her behaviour reverts when the child is in the home environment.  To address this challenge, Ms. Richards also works with parent groups to discuss the importance of counselling and the beneficial impact of counselling on children’s behaviour and their academic success.  During these sessions, she also develops parents’ skills to detect signs of depression or other mental health problems.  

These types of initiatives are based on St. Vincent’s Federal Education Act. It includes provisions for guidance counselling and addressing mental health issues in schools.  “In general,” Ms. Richards says, “people here understand the impact that various social issues, such as divorce, violence, or other stress, can have on students.  Our goal is to assist children in the school environment and focus on the holistic development of child.  We know once they are psychologically well—they are going to be well-rounded, and able to perform academically.”

Ms. Richards hopes that this work could expand to give more access to these services:  “If I could change something about my work, I would make sure each school had access to a counsellor at least three days per week.  I think it takes additional time to make a real impact. …  One of the strengths of the programme is due to the fact that children are more readily willing to admit their problem and willing to share their feelings.  If we help them continue to be this honest beyond primary school, it will serve them well as they grow up.”

CONNECTION TO INTERCAMHS APPROACH TO MH AND SCHOOLS: 

SELECTIVE INTERVENTIONS

INDICATED INTERVENTIONS

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Jenni Jennings

DallasIndependent School District

Dallas, Texas, USA

As the Executive Director of Youth & Family Centers in the Dallas Independent School District, Jenni Jennings oversees 10 school-based health centres, where mental health is a primary focus. The school-based health centers provide access to mental health services, including diagnosis and treatment interventions for students and their families. Each centre director is a mental health professional, and is supported by a mental health team that includes a child and adolescent psychiatrist, therapists, parent educator and child psychologists. Students are referred to the clinic by student support teams at the schools. 

Mental health interventions include mental health evaluations by a multidisciplinary team, and group and family therapy.  The involvement of family in nearly all treatment is vital to the approach taken by the Dallas Independent School District’s Youth & Family Centers.  Students referred to the programme participate in family sessions to build skills and resilience of the entire family to manage conflict and stress.  These services are available to all students, and have been seen as useful by the local community.  Families themselves have been known to request therapy from the school-based health centre. 

“When Hurricane Katrina survivors entered their schools, Dallas students were patient with the transition and helped the new students integrate into their new surroundings, [whereas] in other cities, it was reported that there was violence between the newcomers and the other students.”

-Jenni JenningsEvaluation of the programme has shown that there has been a quantifiable improvement in academic outcomes for participating students.  Since 1995, Ms. Jennings and her research team have collected data on student attendance, discipline, grades and test scores.  Because the programme is based on school board policy, the school-based health centers have open access to all students’ information.  Evaluations have been conducted on grades and attendance prior to an intervention, and compared with those indicators 6 weeks post-intervention.  Yearly attendance data show enormous improvement after the interventions, with an increase of 60-85% in attendance.  Tracking of grades shows more moderate, but significant, improvement in grades following MH interventions.  The most statistically significant improvement is in school behaviour with a 85-92% decrease in school discipline problems after treatment.

Ms. Jennings believes that the actions of the school-based health centres have had an impact on the climate of the schools.  “When Hurricane Katrina survivors entered their schools, Dallas students were patient with the transition and helped the new students integrate into their new surroundings. The school-based health centre teams collaborated with school psychologist, nurses and counsellors to provide immediate physical health screenings and mental health interviews when the Katrina students were bussed from the emergency shelters to the schools. The teams met weekly with more than 1,200 students in Friends in New Places groups.  In other cities, it was reported that there was violence between the newcomers and the other students.”  Ms. Jennings believes that the supportive climate that has been established over the years allowed students to be more sympathetic to the new students and resilient in face of challenging situations.“Another amazing part of the story is that Intercamhs members from around the world called to help, including Robert Burke, whose college students from Miami University made almost 60 handmade blankets for Katrina students.”

Ms. Jennings’ work in Dallas exemplifies collaboration between mental health professionals, school/ teachers and parents to support students, which is a cornerstone of Intercamhs’ approach to mental health and schools.  She uses several types if interventions: indicated interventions for those referred to her SBHC by teachers and treatment services for those who are assessed to have more serious mental health problems.

CONNECTION TO INTERCAMHS APPROACH TO MENTAL HEALTH AND SCHOOLS: 

INDICATED INTERVENTIONS

TREATMENT

Share your story with Intercamhs!

Reading stories of others’ work in the field of mental health promotion in schools can be a powerful reminder of our common goals and can lay a foundation for partnerships. If you are interested in sharing your experiences for a future newsletter, contact us at: [email protected] or call Mora Oommen at 617-618-2845 or fax 617-527-4096.

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Conferences

Summary of CREATING CONNECTIONS CONFERENCE

April 7, 2006

Canmore, Alberta, Canada

In April, Gloria Wells a resident of Alberta and a Board Member for Intercamhsa and EDC co-convener and co-sponsor the first provincial conference to advance school based mental health in Alberta, and potentially elsewhere in Canada and the U.S. With the contributions of the Intercamhs Board, the Alberta Coalition for Healthy School Communities and the Calgary Health Region, approximately 75 participants, representing the Public Education and Health sectors in  Alberta, and leading practitioners from the U.S., Australia and Alberta, met to share current practices across the school based mental health spectrum. Participants identified opportunities for ongoing networking and collaboration in this work. A compilation of information on conference speakers and conference sessions can be found at www.creatingconnections2006.org

The full conference summary can be found here

Upcoming Conferences

The Promotion of Mental Health and

Prevention of Mental and behavioural Disorders

Theme: Developing Resilience and Strength Across the Lifespan

October 11-13, 2006

Conference in Oslo, Norway 

www.worldconference2006.no

Fourth World Conference, will feature a pre-conference workshop, October 10, 2006, on child and adolescent mental health and schools, co-sponsored by Intercamhs and the Psykisk Helse I Skolen in Norway.

As in the previous three conferences, the programme has two dimensions. 

The first dimension covers:

  • Prevention and promotion research and development (subcommittee chair:  Richard H. Price, University of Michigan, USA)
  • Programme Dissemination and Implementation (subcommittee chair: Helen H. Herrman, University of Melbourne, Australia)
  • Training (subcommittee chair:  Eva Jané-Llopis, World Health Organization European Regional Office, Copenhagen, Denmark)
  • Policy (subcommittee chair:  Thomas H. Bornemann (Mental Health Programme, The Carter Center, USA)

The second dimension covers

  • Enhancing Resilience in Schools
  • The Economy of Mental Health Promotion and Prevention
  • Human Rights in Relation to Promotion and Prevention
  • Reaching the Population
  • Building Coalitions Across Sectors 

See upcoming conferences calendar

  • Intercamhs’ board member, Katherine Weare, is quoted in a recent GLEF publication on Social Emotional Learning:  She is “totally convinced that the evidence, for example, from the systematic review of school-based programs of SEL demonstrates a clear link between social and emotional learning and academic performance.”   
  • See the complete Edutopia article
  • See our new Resources page

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Join Intercamhs, and let us know what you think! 

The Intercamhs approach to “Mental Health and Schools” found on the Intercamhs home page (www.intercamhs.org) is a working document.  We expect it will evolve as members offer us feedback about what aspects of this definition are useful in communicating your work, and what aspects are not. 

Share with us: 

  • How well does the Intercamhs definition represent your work?
  • Which type(s) of intervention do you address in your work and how?
  • What issues would you like the next Intercamhs newsletter to address?

Please comment on these topics or others at our Web board: 

http://boards.edc.org:8080/~intercamhs-public.

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Resources and References

Resources

Health Promoting Schools Initiative, WHO, http://www.who.int/school_youth_health/gshi/hps/en/

Intercamhs, http://www.intercamhs.org

The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, http://www.casel.org

National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention, http://www.promoteprevent.org

Search Institute, http://www.search-institute.org/research/Insights/

Social, Personal, Health Education curriculum (Ireland), http://www.sphe.ie/teachers.htm

References

Hayford, S. & Avoke, M. (1997) The Impact of Late Identification on the Education of Individuals with Mental Retardation in Ghana.  Ghanaian Journal of Special Education. 2(1), 78-81.

Geirstanger, S.P., & Amaral, G. (2005) School-Based Health Centers and Academic Performance: What is the intersection?  April 2004 Meeting Proceedings. White Paper. Washington, DC: National Assembly on School-Based Health Care.

Rowling, L. & Burr, A. (1997). Creating supportive environments. In D. Colquhoun, K Goltz, & M. Sheehan, The health promoting school: Policy, programmes and practice in Australia. Marrickville, NSW. Harcourt Brace.

Stewart-Brown, S. (2006). What is the evidence on school health promotion in improving health or preventing disease and, specifically, what is the effectiveness of the health promoting schools approach? Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe/Health Evidence Network report. Accessed 16 June 16, 2006 from http://www.euro.who.int/document/e88185.pdf

WHO. (2004) Promoting Mental Health: Concepts, Emerging Evidence, Practice. A Report of the World Health Organization, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse in collaboration with the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation and The University of Melbourne. Geneva, Switzerland.: Author. 

www.who.int/entity/mental_health/evidence/en/promoting_mhh.pdf

WHO. (2004) Prevention of Mental Disorders: Effective Interventions and Policy Options. A Report of the World Health Organization, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse in collaboration with the Prevention Research Centre of the Universities of Nijmegen and Maastricht. Geneva: Author.

http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/en/prevention_of_mental_disorders_sr.pdf

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Categories
About

WHO

Creating an Environment for Emotional and Social Well-Being: An important responsibility of a Health-Promoting and Child Friendly school

WHO Information Series on School Health. Geneva, Switzerland (2003)

A growing body of research illustrates the very powerful connection between the psycho-social environment of a school and students’ feelings of connectedness. Selected research studies around the world have found that a positive school environment and students’ connection to school does reduce risk behaviors and improve academic achievement.

The school is an important social environment and plays a crucial role in the social and psychological development of students.  Likewise, the social and psychological well-being of students affects their ability to learn, have healthy relationships with other students and teachers, and continue their education.  Thus, education and health officials need to give careful consideration to the school’s psychological and social environment as they strive to achieve education and health goals.

WHO describes an environment that fosters social and emotional development of students as one that promotes cooperation, communication, and creativity; provides a warm and friendly atmosphere; and discourages violence, bullying, harassment, and discrimination.  Teachers, administrators, staff, students, and parents play an important role in such an environment.

WHO developed “Creating an Environment for Emotional and Social Well-being” as part of its Information Series on School Health as a guide for assessing and addressing psycho-social aspects of the school’s environment.  It is intended to help school personnel, parents, and students recognize the aspects of their environment that are supportive of emotional and social well-being and those which need to be improved. The document addresses how to administer the Psycho- Social Environment (PSE) Profile questionnaire, score results, and initiate discussions about the use of the assessment results.

The PSE Profile questionnaire and its results provide school personnel and others with an opportunity to assess and openly discuss their school’s environment, leading to recognition of both positive qualities and qualities that can be improved. The questionnaire is used to assess seven “quality areas” of the school’s environment.  These areas are:

(1) providing a friendly, rewarding, and supportive atmosphere

(2) supporting cooperation and active learning

(3) forbidding physical punishment and violence

(4) not tolerating bullying, harassment, and discrimination

(5) valuing the development of creative activities

(6) connecting school and home life through involving parents

(7) promoting equal opportunities and participation in decision-making

These seven quality areas characterize a healthy psycho-social environment.  The quality areas emerged as a result of research in the topics of school effectiveness and the emotional well-being of children and adolescents.

To access this document (available in English and Chinese), we ask that you complete a brief questionnaire so that we may know how the document will be used and in what context. Take the Questionnaire

Categories
About

Board

logo
International Alliance for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Schools
Advisory Board

The 16 members on our Advisory Board represent 11 countries. Their names, countries and email addresses are listed here, and you are welcome to contact any of them for more information.

President

  • Louise Rowling, Australia

Vice President

  • Cheryl Vince Whitman, USA

Secretary

  • Pauline Dickinson, New Zealand

Board Members

  • Chris Bale, UK
  • Dennis Edwards, Jamaica
  • Dora Gundrun Gudmundsdottir, Iceland
  • Leyla Ismayilova, Azerbaijan
  • Annette Johnson, USA
  • Michael Murray, UK
  • Peter Paulus, Germany
  • Truong Trong Hoang, Vietnam
  • Katherine Weare, UK
  • Mark Weist, USA
  • Gloria Wells, Canada

Research Associate

  • Mora Oommen

Advisory Board Discussion Area Access
NOTE: This password-protected Discussion Area is for Advisory Board Members only

Categories
Newsletter

May 2003

Newsletter – May 2003

Welcome to the first e-newsletter of INTERCAMHS. We welcome your feedback on the newsletter. We welcome your feedback on the newsletter. Ideas should be emailed to [email protected]The Alliance currently has over 140 members from 18 countries.

LETTER FROM THE INAUGURAL PRESIDENT, LOUISE ROWLING

We have been working over the last few months reviewing the proposed operating code for the International Alliance for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Schools. You will note firstly that there have been some shifts in names. The acronym INTERCAMHS was decided upon to highlight the international orientation in the purposes for the alliance. An on-going challenge in this has been and will continue to be, the ‘language’ we use. This is the first purpose of INTERCAMHS to develop and adopt a common language of terms related to mental health and schools. A second change has been a streamlining of the organisational structure, replacing the proposed steering committee and advisory board structure with one Board. This will consist of at least 15 people – including the Board Officers, the President, Vice President and Secretary. No more than 3 people from any one country can serve on the Board at the same time. The inaugural Board Officers are myself as President (Australia), Jean Pierre Valla (Canada) and Dora Guorun Guomundsdottir (Iceland). Mark Weist (USA) will act as Board Liaison Officer.

An exciting development has been an invitation last month to INTERCAMHS to attend a briefing by World Federation for Mental Health organised by the International Union of Health Promotion and Education in Rockville, Maryland. Mark Weist represented the Alliance. His report in this newsletter identifies the great potential INTERCAMHS now has to put into practice the vision Mark has fostered for improving the mental health of young people globally. I am delighted that an outcome of this meeting is an increase in opportunities for us to meet in different parts of the world over the next 18 months. First please seriously consider joining us on 22nd October, 2003 in Portland, Oregon for the first official meeting of INTERCAMHS, being held in conjunction with the 8th National Conference on Advancing Mental Health in Schools (see http://csmha.umaryland.edu). Second start saving your cents, pence and pesos and all the other currencies we use to come and visit us in Melbourne, Australia for Health 2004 (April), the International Union of Health Promotion and Education international conference where INTERCAMHS will have a special session (more details of the conference are below). Lastly we can meet in September 2004 at the 3rd World Conference on Mental Health Promotion in Auckland, New Zealand, where INTERCAMHS has been also invited to submit a series of presentations.

In the next few months we will be developing a website. It is envisaged that this will be a primary vehicle for members to share information and access the breadth of material available from our constituents.

I look forward to meeting with you in October,

Louise Rowling, Inaugural President

REPORT FROM MARK WEIST ON THE MEETING, ENHANCING INTERORGANIZATIONAL COLLABORATION ON PROMOTION OF MENTAL HEALTH AND PREVENTION OF MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS

On April 28 and 29, 2003, INTERCAMHS was invited to participate in an international meeting to promote collaboration in the development of a global agenda for mental health promotion in Washington, DC. The meeting was organized by the World Federation for Mental Health, the Clifford Beers Foundation, and the Carter Center, with support from the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The meeting followed two world conferences on mental health promotion held in Atlanta in 2000, and in London in 2002, in preparation for the next meeting to be held in New Zealand in 2004 (September). The purpose of the meeting was to “strengthen ties and expand collaborative actions among organizations worldwide in order to establish better conditions to develop, disseminate, and implement evidence-based prevention and promotion in mental health worldwide.”

INTERCAMHS was one of 16 organizations participating in the meeting. Other organizations were the World Bank; the Carter Center; the Society for Prevention Research; the Pan American Health Organization; the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; the World Federation for Mental Health; the Clifford Beers Foundation; the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand; the Finland Ministry of Social Affairs and Health; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE); the World Psychiatric Association; the National Institute of Mental Health; the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning; and the VicHealth Promotion Foundation. Each of the groups presented on their goals and activities related to mental health promotion, there was clarification of conceptual frameworks and language, and strategies were developed for collaborative research, knowledge exchange, advocacy, and training.

Importantly, INTERCAMHS was invited to play a leading role in the development of a school mental health stream for the Third World Mental Health Promotion Conference in New Zealand in September, 2004. We hope that this stream will build on and connect to a stream of presentations at the IUHPE meeting in Melbourne in April, 2004.

PLANNING FOR THE FIRST MEETING OF INTERCAMHS, OCTOBER, 2003, IN PORTLAND, OREGON

As presented in earlier emails, the first full meeting of INTERCAMHS will be held on October 22, 2003 in Portland, Oregon, at the Hilton Portland Hotel, in conjunction with the Center for School Mental Health Assistance’s 8th Annual Conference on Advancing School-Based Mental Health, October 23-25 (see http://csmha.umaryland.edu).

The tentative agenda includes:

  • 9am – 4pm: Sharing of experiences, research, and lessons learned; discussion of ideas for communication and collaboration
  • 4:30 – 7pm: Advisory Board and Business meeting
  • 7:30 – 9:30pm: Reception
  • Annette Johnson has agreed to help coordinate the program. We are in need of volunteers for the program committee. If you are interested please contact Annette at [email protected]

If you are interested in the CSMHA conference, please contact Sylvia Huntley at [email protected]

NEED TO EXPAND ADVISORY BOARD

INTERCAMHS’ operating code (to be reviewed by all at the 10/22 meeting) indicates that its Advisory Board will include at least 15 people, with no more than three members per country. Officers who serve on the board ex officio are Louise Rowling, President (Australia); Jean Pierre-Valla, Vice President (Canada), and Dora Guorun Guomundsdottir (Iceland). Board members include: Chris Bale (UK), Mary Byrne (Ireland), Pamela Cantor (US), Peter Paulus (Germany), Cheryl Vince Whitman (US), Katherine Weare (UK), and Mark Weist (US). At present, Mark Weist is serving as Board Liaison Officer.

Individuals interested in participating on the Board should contact Mark at [email protected]

REPORT ON A COLLABORATIVE AUSTRALIA-US PROJECT

In Australia, the MindMatters program was developed as a whole-school approach to mental health promotion in secondary schools. This program provides schools with the guidelines and tools to analyze and improve the school’s mental health promotion structures, policies and activities. Educational materials for students, staff and community members are provided on various topics such as developing community partnerships, dealing with bullying and harassment, and coping with loss and grief. The program was piloted in twenty four Australian secondary schools and has produced some encouraging preliminary data, including:

  • · The program’s structure and curriculum have been well received by schools;
  • · Teachers trained in MM procedures reported confidence implementing them;
  • · Increased school-community partnerships were documented;
  • · Students reported that they were more willing to seek counselling services; and
  • · Positive changes have occurred such as improved student learning, staff attitudes, and school policies.
  • Recently, researchers from the CSMHA (Mark Weist, Elizabeth Mullett) and James Madison University (Steve Evans) conducted four focus groups with school stakeholders (administrators, teachers, parents and students) from urban, suburban and rural school districts in the US. The goal of these meetings was to assess the feasibility of implementing the MindMatters program in American secondary schools. In each of the four communities, participants attended a meeting where the materials were presented and explained. After carefully reviewing the materials the participants provided feedback about the potential obstacles and benefits of implementing this program in US schools.

Both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered from the meeting. Overall, preliminary data suggest that participants were enthusiastic about the program and indicated that adapting the program for use in their schools seemed feasible. Several aspects of the program made it particularly appealing for use in the US. For example, participants valued the fact that the MindMatters is a whole-school approach and addresses more than just curriculum issues. In that regard, they reported that the program appears to be much more comprehensive than existing school-based mental health programs. They also appreciated that the program provides an overarching framework for evaluating existing programs in the school and that action plans can be tailored to the needs of the individual school. The teacher training materials were well-received as teachers reported that they generally were not trained to deal with students’ mental health issues. Students reported that the topics covered in the curriculum materials addressed important developmental issues. Concerns included the cultural relevance of these materials for use in the US, the integration of this program into an already heavy curriculum and the lack of receptiveness on the part of some educators to a mental health agenda.

Based on these encouraging preliminary findings, we hope to conduct a two-year pilot study during which the MindMatters materials would be revised as needed for use with diverse cultural groups in the US. This project would occur in two middle schools consisting of sixth, seventh and eighth graders between the ages of twelve and fifteen. School staff would be recruited to collaboratively revise the manuals and procedures, pilot, and evaluate them. After completing this process, an American version of the MindMatters program will be implemented and evaluated in a more formal research project.

If you have questions or comments about this project, please contact Elizabeth Mullett at [email protected]

_______________________________________________________________

Funding for the MindMatters focus groups was provided by the Center for Mental Health Services, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration. Considerable guidance and support of this project has been provided by Nancy Davis of SAMHSA.

 

Categories
Newsletter

August 2003

Newsletter –August 2003

Welcome to the second e-newsletter of INTERCAMHS. We welcome your feedback on the newsletter. Ideas should be emailed to [email protected]

The Alliance currently has over 200 members from 22 countries.

Contents

How INTERCAMHS came about

The Centre for School Mental Health Assistance (CSMHA) is a training, research and technical assistance center for mental health in schools in the United States (funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health and Services Administration). It holds an annual conference on Advancing School Mental Health.

In 1998, the conference began to attract people from other countries and planning began to increase international networking related to school-based mental health. At the same time, the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) held a meeting in Puerto Rico also in 1998, in which school health and mental health was a major focus. Annette Johnson of the New York State Department of Health attended the IUHPE meeting and helped CSMHA staff connect with this organization. In 1999 Louise Rowling attended the CSMHA conference in Denver, Colorado, and planning for the network began to intensify. This continued at the CSMHA meeting in Atlanta in 2000.

In 2001, the emerging network presented a series of presentations on International Perspectives on School Mental Health at the IUHPE meeting in Paris. At this meeting about 30 people from around the world also met to discuss the formal development of the network. Mark Weist, CSMHA Director, with the assistance of Annette Johnson and Louise Rowling then developed a preliminary operating code for the network, which was presented at the Second World Conference for Mental Health Promotion in London in 2002. About 15 people from around the world reviewed the code and provided input. A revised code was then presented at a meeting of about 50 people at the CSMHA conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2002.

Based on this meeting, the recommendation was made to develop the name International Network for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Schools. Since then an international advisory board (including members from Australia, Germany, UK and Iceland) has made recommendations including streamlining the leadership structure, developing an e-newsletter, developing a web site, and changing the name to International Alliance for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Schools (INTERCAMHS).

An on-going challenge for the Alliance has been and will continue to be, the ‘language’ that it uses. It is the first purpose of INTERCAMHS to develop and adopt a common language of terms related to mental health and schools.

The First International Meeting of INTERCAMHS

As presented in the first newsletter, the First International Meeting of the Alliance is to be held on October 22nd at the Hilton Portland Hotel in Portland, Oregon. This date is fast approaching and planning continues to intensify. The international meeting is being held in conjunction with the 8th National Conference on Advancing School Mental Health sponsored by the Center for School Mental Health Assistance (October 23-25, Hilton Portland Hotel). For more information on the 8th National Conference see http://csmha.umaryland.edu

The Intercamhs meeting will begin with an open meeting from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm to share experiences, research and opportunities for collaboration. Participants will have the opportunity to present developments and challenges within their country and receive feedback from a global perspective. An advisory board meeting will be held from 4:30 to 7:00 pm followed by an open reception (7:00-9:00 pm). We encourage you to take this time to network with others and celebrate the First International Meeting of the Alliance!

If you need to make travel and/or hotel arrangements please email your information to Sylvia Huntley at [email protected] as soon as possible.

For more information about the Intercamhs meeting contact Elizabeth Moore at [email protected]

New members at the Advisory board

Six new members have joined the advisory board since the last newsletter was realeased. We welcome:

  • Catalina Gherman (Romania)
  • Gloria Benard (Canada)
  • Leyla Ismayilova (Azerbaijan)
  • Michael Murray (UK)
  • Pauline Dickinson (New Zealand)
  • Truong Trong Hoang (Vietnam)

Today there are 16 officers from 11 different countries (4 continents) who serve on the board. Ex officio are Louise Rowling, President (Australia); Jean Pierre-Valla, Vice President (Canada), and Dora Gudrun Gudmundsdottir, Secretary (Iceland). Board members include: Catalina Gherman (Romania), Cheryl Vince Whitman (US), Chris Bale (UK), Gloria Benard (Canada), Katherine Weare (UK), Leyla Ismayilova (Azerbaijan), Mary Byrne (Ireland), Michael Murray (UK), Pamela Cantor (US), Pauline Dickinson (New Zealand), Peter Paulus (Germany), Truong Trong Hoang (Vietnam) and Mark Weist (US) who is the Board Liaison Officer.

European Project: “Mental Health Promotion and Prevention Strategies for Coping with Anxiety, Depression and Stress related Disorders in Europe (2001-2003)”

Mental Health Europe, a European NGO based in Brussels representing associations and organisations in the field of mental health in Europe and deeply committed to the promotion of positive mental health and the prevention of mental illness, has been involved since November 2001 in a project on “Mental Health Promotion and Prevention Strategies for Coping with Anxiety, Depression and Stress Related Disorders in Europe” financed by the European Commission.

The main aim of this project was to build a European strategy to initiate and implement actions in Member States on Mental Health Promotion and Prevention for coping with anxiety, depression and stress-related disorders. The division into three sectors (children, adolescents and young people to age 24 years in educational and other relevant settings, working adults from 25-60 years and older people from 60 years in various settings) ensured that the whole life span was covered.

Mental Health Europe was responsible for the Sector “Children, Adolescents and Young People up to 24 years in education and other relevant settings”.

National partners chosen by each sector went on a search, using their contacts to help them, and used standard questionnaire to structure the replies from project leaders. Responses varied greatly from country to country but also between sectors. Thirty-two projects were received for the sector children, adolescents and young people, sixty-five for the working adults and forty-six for the older people’s sector. The sectors, together with their experts, selected the Best Practices among them according to the key criteria that had been set at the beginning of the project, focussing especially on evidence-based and evaluated practices.

To conclude this project, the group made a series of recommendations, based partly on the knowledge and experience of those in the field, partly on evidence from the wider research literature, and partly on the experience of these projects – all the recommendations have at least one project which exemplifies them.

The conclusions resulting from this project have lead to recommendations on how to improve mental health in Europe in order to increase well-being and to reduce high costs. These recommendations will now have to be put into practice.

The project is now in its final stage and will finish at the end of August 2003.

For more information on the Children’s sector, please contact Kirsten Zenzinger at Mental Health Europe, e-mail: [email protected]

For questions relating to the “Working Adults” sector, please contact Nathalie Henke at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Germany, e-mail: [email protected]

For questions relating to the “Older People” sector, please contact Juha Lavikainen at STAKES, e-mail: [email protected]

The website: intercamhs.org

Chris Bale, a member of the board is now preparing a short-term website for Intercamhs which will hopefully be online in the beginning of September.

Categories
FIles

August 2005 Newsletter

Categories
Newsletter

February 2004

Newsletter – February 2004

Welcome to the third e-newsletter of Intercamhs. We welcome your feedback on the newsletter. We welcome your feedback on the newsletter. Ideas should be emailed to [email protected]

Contents

Summary from Intercamhs’ first meeting in Portland, Oregon

Forty three delegates from around the world gathered in Portland, Oregon, in October for Intercamhs’ first international meeting. The discussions served to highlight many of the most pressing issues in child and adolescent mental health worldwide and considered how Intercamhs will tackle them.

During the day-long conference, twelve Intercamhs members gave short presentations about their work. These covered a wide range of services and programmes – from a study of over-indulged children in Canada, to a mental health promotion programme for teenagers in New Zealand; from a mental health awareness campaign in Iceland, to concern about the mental health of schoolteachers in Germany. Prof Katherine Weare from England outlined how old divisions between the mental health and education sectors are disappearing, with a growing awareness that mental health promotion is everyone’s business.

  • The need for common language and key terms in mental health
  • The need for better exchange of information and more collaboration
  • The inadequacy of mental health funding in most countries
  • A possible role for Intercamhs in advocating policy change
  • Crucially, there was agreement that Intercamhs must represent the full continuum of mental health promotion, early intervention and treatment in schools.

The first Board meeting was also held in Portland, with fourteen of the sixteen members present. Among the decisions taken:

  • The Center for School Mental Health Assistance at the University of Maryland will continue to facilitate Intercamhs and will seek funding for operational expenses.
  • Five working Groups have been established – Advisory Board/Conference Meetings; Board and General Membership; Communication; Outreach and Advocacy; and Research and Collaboration. (If you are interested in joining any of these groups, please notify Louise Rowling at: [email protected] )
  • A Steering Group has been formed and will draft Intercamhs’ Vision, Aims and Guiding Principles, for approval by the members. These are now online at: www.intercamhs.org/about/principlesandaims.html
  • The Portland conference was organized by the Center for School Mental Health Assistance (CSMHA) at the University of Maryland. Funding for both the conference and the Board meeting was generously provided by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Brief summaries of the conference presentations and a history of Intercamhs’ formation are now available on our website – www.intercamhs.org

The next Intercamhs conference will be in Auckland, New Zealand in September 2004, to coincide with the 3rd World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioural Disorders (for details, see www.charity.demon.co.uk/conference.htm.)

The International Journal of Mental Health Promotion

“The International Journal of Mental Health Promotion” is to produce a special issue this summer, reflecting the themes of Intercamhs’ first International Meeting. Six articles will be published by Intercamhs members from Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Russia and the United States. You can read abstracts of the articles and find out how to order your own copy of the Journal by going to www.intercamhs.org/events/journal.html

Conference on Mental Health Promotion and Prevention in New Zealand

The Third World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioral Disorders, From Research to Practice, will be held from September 15th – 17th, 2004 in Auckland, New Zealand. The main objective of the Conference is to build upon the work that was begun at the first two world conferences in Atlanta in 2000 and London in 2002 to develop effective practice that is based on sound research. This international working meeting is designed to advance prevention and promotion through collaborative relationships and the support for mental health across countries and disciplines. The five major themes of the 2004 Conference are: research; evidence-based programs and policies; international exchange and cultural variation; advocacy, policy-making and organization; and training and expertise development. Intercamhs has assisted in the development of the meeting and in organizing a track of presentations focusing on school-aged children and adolescents in the five theme areas.

The Conference is organized by the World Federation for Mental Health, the Clifford Beers Foundation and the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand in collaboration with the Carter Center. For more information regarding the Conference please visit www.charity.demon.co.uk/conference.htm. To submit to be a presenter you will need to prepare a 400 word abstract reflecting one of the above themes for school-aged children and adolescents to arrive no later than March 31, 2004 at [email protected]

Intercamhs 2nd Annual Meeting

Intercamhs will be holding its annual meeting in advance of the 3rd World Conference, on September 14th. In addition, a symposium will be organized during the conference to reflect upon the annual meeting and address future directions for the Alliance. A reception is also in the works to allow for networking and socializing among Alliance members. Numerous pre-conference workshops and sessions will be taking place in Auckland, allowing Intercamhs participants to network with other professionals, inform others of Intercamhs presence at the 3rd World Conference, and promote the vision of the Alliance. This presents a unique opportunity for Intercamhs to attract new membership and publicize the Alliance.

If you are interested in attending the Intercamhs 2nd Annual Meeting, please email to [email protected]. If you would like to submit a presentation, include your background information and the title, abstract, and co-author names. More information regarding the meeting will soon appear on www.intercamhs.org

We look forward to seeing you in Auckland!

Intercamhs’ workshop at the IUHPE conference in Melbourne, April 2004

Intercamhs is going to host a workshop at the 18th World Conference on Health Promotion and Health Education held in Melbourne, Australia, 26. – 30. April 2004. You can find more about the conference on: http://www.health2004.com.au/

Workshop title: Exploring quality practice in the international exchange and adaptation of school based mental health programs

This workshop hosted by Intercamhs, will explore issues that need to be considered to promote the international growth and sustainability of school based mental health programs. Four speakers will give brief presentations to stimulate discussion which aims to cover questions such as: How do we bridge the cultural divide between countries and within countries? What are examples of successful practice and what can we learn from these? What role does the language of mental health play in creating blocks to collaboration and in providing a key to multidisciplinary partnerships? Are there some generic principles and processes that can be identified to guide international exchange of programs and information? In relation to research, does adoption guarantee replication of effect or is re-invention required? Is school based mental health research design and implementation culturally bound and therefore not amenable to global exchange? Does the concept of a ‘model program’ provide direction for action?

Louise Rowling (Facilitator)

Michael Murray

The value of model programmes in school based mental health.

Abstract

Mental health promotion in schools has been under funded for many years and there has been a long-standing underestimation of the degree and prevalence of mental health problems among children and adolescents. The burden created by the incidence of poor mental health is not just financial but in total arises from a range of individual suffering and emotional consequences for children. Recent years have witnessed a series of initiatives to promote collaboration and co-operation between organizations and individuals working in the field of child and adolescent mental health promotion. The presentation will make a plea for the further development, evaluation and dissemination of models of best practice/model programmes (and the related concepts such as evidence-based prevention and demonstration projects) as an important instrument for improving the quality, social impact and cost effectiveness of mental health promotion in schools.

Annette Johnson

Bridging the cultural divide’ – the role of culture in addressing mental health needs

Abstract

The field of mental health has become acutely aware of the need to factor cultural perceptions and context into the development of programs, group and family interventions and, where indicated, treatment plans. This is particularly important in school-based mental health because of the cross section of socio-economic, ethnic, racial and environmental characteristics that have an impact on the outlook of students, families, education and services staff that converge in this setting. The discussion will focus on the basic principles of what has been called “cultural competence”, acknowledgment of diversity or cultural sensitivity. The presentation will look at how to move beyond recognition of differences to the development of tools to enable the services provider to approach working with students, their families and education staff, in a manner that respects the differences and factors them into plans, for addressing mental health needs is an objective manner.

Jo Mason

Going International

Abstract

The process of adapting the Australian MindMatters materials for other cultures has highlighted the important role of the principles contained in the Community Matters resource. Using these principles enables adaptations that maintain the original concept of the MindMatters materials as well as acknowledge new contexts for those materials. Included in the presentation will be the discussion of importance of developing a real partnership that can genuinely expand the concept of health promotion for both partners and how this can be managed through the interesting waters of intellectual property, translation and adaptation. Samples of the training provided by Mindmatters to the trainers from Germany that it is beyond just gaining kudos and having good times, will be used to promote discussion.

Peter Paulus (presenter), Marco Franze, Katrin Schwertner

An adaption of an Australian program for mental health promotion in secondary schools for German Speaking countries. A report on the first results of a pilot study

Abstract

A German adaptation of the Australian MindMatters program will be tested in an 18 month pilot in 29 secondary schools in Germany and Switzerland in 2004-2006. Results of an initial testing in schools with pupils as well as teachers will be presented. The discussion will focus on (a) problems of adopting a program from a different socio-cultural and language background and (b) the prospect of developing a European version of MindMatters (“MindMattersEurope”) for the countries which are members of the “European Network of Health Promoting Schools”.

Categories
Support

Member Database

Member Database

Welcome to the Intercamhs member database! The instructions below provide basic information on using the membership database. As an authorized Intercamhs member you have access to information on every member who has agreed to be included in this password protected database.

Click Here to Access the Database

Instructions

Topic

Instructions

Accessing the Database

The membership database can be accessed by the link above. A new browser window will open and you will then be prompted for your UserID and Password.

Click Here to Access the Database

Obtaining User ID and Password

To obtain your username and password, e-mail[email protected]or call +1-617-969-7100 Ext 2845. Your username and password will be e-mailed back to you.

Viewing & Searching the database

Complete Database Browsing

When you first enter the database it will show you the full list of members. You can scroll through the entire database by clicking on arrows in the “open book” icon on the left panel as shown below:

1

Specific Searches

The database is set up so you can search any of the given fields. To begin a search click on the “Magnify Glass” icon (Find button) on the top right corner, as shown below:

2

Type in the text by which you would like to search. You can check off any of the fields you would like to include in your search. All searches default to using the “and” command. For example, if you type in “Jane” for first name and “Australia” as country the search will be “Jane and Australia.”

Performing an “Or” Search
If you would like to include only an “or” search you can click on “New Request” button after entering your first search string (see below):

3

For example, you can type in “Jane” for first name and then click the “New Request” button and then type in “Australia” in the country field. The search will now be for “Jane or Australia.”

For the more qualitative fields, you can type in generic words such as “funding” or “resources” the search will scan the database and pull up the specific key words.

To return to viewing all the records click on the “pencil” icon which is the browse command, on the top left corner, as seen below:

4

Sorting data You can sort the data by various fields. To begin a sort click on the AtoZ icon:

5

When you click on this icon it will allow you to sort by any of the fields in the “Choose Fields” table. In the example, shown below we have begun a sort by “organization” and clicked on ascending order. You can sort by multiple fields, by clicking on the field you would like to include, next clicking on “>move>” and the field will appear in the “Sort Order” box. You can then choose to have the information appear in ascending or descending order.

6

Viewing the database You can view the database in three modes:

  • Form: this view will allow you to view each entry independently, to move between each entry you will need to use the “open book” icon on the left of the screen.
  • List: this view will list all information on the members in your search as a list of twenty-five that you can scroll through.
  • Table: we have selected basic contact information to be included in this view, to make it easier to view and print out. For more detailed information on each of the members please use the Form or List view.
  • For some of the fields you might be required to scroll through to read the entire entry.
Printing from the database At any time while using the database, you can print what you see on your screen by selecting “Print” from the File menu of your Internet browser software.
Updating your profile

For security reasons, individuals will not be able to update their data online, however, we would like to keep information in the database as current as possible! If you have any updates to send, please send the new information to[email protected]and we will make the changes for you.

Questions & Suggestions

If you have any questions or suggestions about the database please send a note to[email protected]

Categories
News & Events

News & Events

News & Events

Current News

December, 2005 – Montego Bay, Jamaica – On December 6-8, 2005 over 100 participants gathered at Montego Bay, Jamaica for the Jamaica Association of Guidance Counselors in Education (JAGCE) Annual General Conference. The theme of conference was “Professional Counsellor: Agent of Change” with the key note address by Mr. Patrick Smith, Senior Secretary for Member Services, Jamaica Teacher’s Association. The honoree was Dr. Deloris Brissett, Ministry of Education for Jamaica. Intercamhs board member, Dr. Dennis Edwards was part of the organizing committee and Intercamhs members Dr. Paul Giguere, Senior Scientist, Education Development Center, USA and Dr. Michael Linsdey, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work at the University of Maryland, led discussions on approaches to school-based mental health. A number of practitioners expressed interest in and signed up to be members of Intercamhs.

International Meetings

April, 2005 – Dublin, Ireland

The third Intercamhs’ meeting was held in Dublin, Ireland in April 2005 to coincide with the Global Conference for Mental Health Promotion: Going from Strength to Strength. Summaries of the presentations will be available soon.

September, 2004 – Auckland, New Zealand

The second Intercamhs’ meeting was held in Auckland, New Zealand in September 2004, to coincide with the Third World Conference on Mental Health Promotion and the Prevention of Mental Health and Behavioural Disorders.

  • Read summaries of the presentations at the meeting

October, 2003 – Portland, Oregon

The first Intercamhs’ meeting was held in Portland, Oregon, USA, on October 22 2003, and attracted 43 delegates from 11 countries.

  • Read a report of the meeting

Journal

A special issue of the International Journal of Mental Health Promotion was published in summer 2004, with all articles contributed by Intercamhs members.