Partnerships at the Interface of Education and Mental Health Services: The Utilisation and Acceptability of the Provision of Specialist Liaison and Teacher Skills Training

Mina Fazel (), Emma Soneson, Elise Sellars, Gillian Butler and Alan Stein
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Mina Fazel: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK
Emma Soneson: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK
Elise Sellars: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK
Gillian Butler: Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK
Alan Stein: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: Partnerships between school staff and mental health professionals have the potential to improve access to mental health support for students, but uncertainty remains regarding whether and how they work in practice. We report on two pilot projects aimed at understanding the implementation drivers of tailored strategies for supporting and engaging front-line school staff in student mental health. The first project provided regular, accessible mental health professionals with whom school staff could meet and discuss individual or systemic mental health concerns (a school ‘InReach’ service), and the other offered a short skills training programme on commonly used psychotherapeutic techniques (the School Mental Health Toolbox; SMHT). The findings from the activity of 15 InReach workers over 3 years and 105 individuals who attended the SMHT training demonstrate that school staff made good use of these services. The InReach workers reported more than 1200 activities in schools (notably in providing specialist advice and support, especially for anxiety and emotional difficulties), whilst most SMHT training attendees reported the utilisation of the tools (in particular, supporting better sleep and relaxation techniques). The measures of acceptability and the possible impacts of the two services were also positive. These pilot studies suggest that investment into partnerships at the interface of education and mental health services can improve the availability of mental health support to students.

Keywords: schools; teacher education schools; mental health; mental stress; health services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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