Teachers’ Perspectives on the Impact of an Outdoor-Based Self-Care Training Program on Student Mental Health

Katie A. Bucher (), Connor M. Moriarty, Adam Lazarchak and Russell K. McIntire
Additional contact information
Katie A. Bucher: Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA 18104, USA
Connor M. Moriarty: Reset Outdoors, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA
Adam Lazarchak: Bethlehem Area Vocational Technical School, Bethlehem, PA 18020, USA
Russell K. McIntire: College of Health, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 7, 1-11

Abstract: As mental health disorders in the U.S. increase at an alarming rate, schools are looking for prevention and mitigation interventions for their students. This study reports teachers’ perspectives on the effectiveness of a school program situated at the intersection of self-care and nature-based interventions at a vocational technical high school. Eight classes received between one and four “Intro to Well-Being” sessions, designed to take students outside and develop self-awareness, sense of connection, and reduce stress. Upon the conclusion of the program, classroom teachers were interviewed to identify the perceptions of the sessions and their impact on student and classroom outcomes. Teachers described the sessions as beneficial to students’ expression of emotions, mindfulness skills, personal/social connections, and classroom atmosphere. Teachers also reflected on challenges and provided recommendations for future implementation. Outdoor-based self-care programs, administered at schools, may be a promising program model to support the social and emotional health of students.

Keywords: mental health; self-care; well-being; nature; adolescents; teachers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/7/1135/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/7/1135/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:7:p:1135-:d:1704541

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().