None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
While schools are increasingly expected to support the mental health of students, classroom teachers have reported feeling that they lack the skills and confidence in knowing how to best recognise and respond to students’ mental health issues. The role of Year Advisor has additional requirements to support students’ mental health, namely by existing as the main point of contact for parents, students, other school staff, and health professionals when managing student mental illness. Our research team also conducted a systematic review which found that few teacher training programs in adolescent mental had been formally evaluated for effectiveness. In addition, there was no evidence that existing training programs increased the rate of teachers’ helping behaviour towards students. Based on these findings, our research team was awarded the funds to develop an evidence-based mental health training program specifically for secondary school Year Advisors. An advisory group of Year Advisors was established to help develop the program including content selection and delivery mode. A review of the features of existing programs indicated that teacher training programs tend to use a didactic workshop style of delivery. While this format achieved short-term improvements in teachers’ knowledge and attitudes towards student mental health, it is unclear whether these improvements were long-term. Research in professional development and adult learning suggest that training programs which feature elements of online, collaborative, and skill-based learning are preferred by users and can lead to behaviour change. Collaboration with the Year Advisor advisory group indicated that ideally, training programs should focus on practical skills and collaborative learning with peers. Taken together, this indicated a need for an evidence-based, innovative skills-based training program aimed at improving Year Advisors’ knowledge, attitudes, confidence, and helping behaviours in responding to students’ mental health needs. We are now ready to test the training program for acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness.
Interventions
The intervention being tested in this study is the BEAM online training program. It was designed in collaboration with high school Year Advisors. The aim of the program is to provide Year Advisors with the knowledge and skills they need to better support students’ mental health. The program is based on a theory of change which proposes that an improvement in knowledge leads to an improvement in attitudes and confidence towards performing helping behaviours. BEAM is the first program we are aware
The intervention being tested in this study is the BEAM online training program. It was designed in collaboration with high school Year Advisors. The aim of the program is to provide Year Advisors with the knowledge and skills they need to better support students’ mental health. The program is based on a theory of change which proposes that an improvement in knowledge leads to an improvement in attitudes and confidence towards performing helping behaviours. BEAM is the first program we are aware of to apply this model to the unique training needs of Year Advisors, with the goal of improving their mental health knowledge, attitudes, confidence, and helping behaviours towards students. It is also anticipated that through an increase in knowledge and confidence, users will report a reduction in their own psychological distress. The online program utilises a blended style of delivery with users completing 5 online learning topics containing information, case studies, and quizzes. An additional 5 activities delivered through peer-learning requires users to meet with their school colleagues and discuss focus questions. As such, a minimum of two Year Advisors from each school will be recruited in order for users to have at least one colleague at their same professional level to complete these tasks with. The program was developed as an online computer based training to maintain fidelity across users. Program adherence will be measured as time taken to complete learning modules and activities. This is recorded by the online platform hosting the program. Year Advisors will have access to the program for a period of 6 weeks. There is no restriction on the pace at which users complete the learning modules during this time. In total, it is estimated that the training program would take approximately 6.5 hours to complete, however users are encouraged to work through the program in weekly sittings to provide time to complete their peer activities and consolidate their learning. It is anticipated that the online learning content for each topic should take approximately 1 hour to complete with an additional 15-20 minutes allocated for peer-learning.
Sponsors
Black Dog Institute
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Single group
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Participants in this study will be secondary school teachers who: 1) Are currently employed full-time in the role of Year Advisor (or equivalent) for students at any secondary school in NSW. In recognition that the title of Year Advisor is not uniformly used across schools, the title can be interchangeable with other terms such as Student Co-ordinator or Head of Year. Participants must be teachers in school leadership positions who are responsible for overseeing a cohort of students, anywhere between Grade 7 and 12. 2) Are available and employed at their school for the duration of the study (approximately 8 weeks). 3) Are able to obtain the signed consent of their school principal. 4) Are from a school with at least one other Year Advisor participating.
Exclusion criteria
Nil
Outcome results
None listed