Journey of Hope evaluation: a mixed methods evaluation examining how the program influenced the emotional and interpersonal wellbeing of primary and secondary students

Journey of Hope is a school-based, group work intervention for children and early adolescents who have experienced a collective trauma, such as a natural hazard or disaster. It was created in New Orleans, United States, in response to children experiencing ongoing stress from Hurricane Katrina (Powell and Blanchet-Cohen 2014). The program is delivered by two trained facilitators working with a group of 8-10 students in one-hour sessions, during school hours once a week for eight weeks. The facilitators help children develop coping skills through structured games, stories and creative play in safe, small groups. The program is designed to support children in normalising emotions associated with a community trauma while developing positive coping strategies. The program is delivered in modules that have been tailored to developmental ages. Each session follows a similar routine to promote normalcy for students whilst also creating an emotionally safe place, using developmentally appropriate learning strategies, which include: • Books and dialogue to introduce knowledge, reinforce messages and promote the development of children’s literacy and critical thinking skills • Cooperative games to encourage (in a non-competitive manner) teamwork, social skills and awareness of stressors • Art, dance and other forms of movement to give children an opportunity to learn through alternative methods and to provide a creative outlet for expression. The program’s design and delivery approach are grounded in cognitive-behavioural theory, to support social and psychological wellbeing for children after a traumatic experience (Duncan and Arnston 2004). The program is delivered in modules that have been tailored to developmental ages. The modules developed include: • Early Years – Preschool • Early Primary – Year Prep to Year 2 • Upper Primary – Year 3 to 6 • Early High – Year 7 to 9 • Upper High – Year 10 to 12 • Caregivers – Parents and caregivers The modules for younger participants, such as those in upper primary school years include more creative forms of learning, as well as more reading and conversations to help develop their literacy skills. In comparison, modules for older participants such as those in early high school years, use more journaling and group discussions to explore topics. The group discussions explore themes in much more detail than the Upper Primary module. Both have role play activities but the practitioners have more/less probing questions and/or lines of exploration for each group depending on the module. Examples of activities for the Upper Primary module include: • Reading books and facilitating conversations to introduce knowledge and promote the development of children's literacy and critical thinking skills • Cooperative games in a non-competitive manner to encourage teamwork, social skills, and awareness of stressors • Art, music, dance, and other forms of movement to give children an opportunity to learn through alternative methods and to provide a creative outlet for expression Examples of activities for the Early High module include: • Experiential cooperative games to encourage, in a non-competitive manner, teamwork, social skills, and ability to be aware of stressors • Discussions between students and practitioners to share knowledge and strategies on effective coping strategies • Journaling to promote self exploration and written account of feelings that participants may not feel comfortable discussing in group All children in each group receive the same intervention, and no homework is assigned to participants. Attendance was taken for all participants, and from time to time a senior staff member (not a facilitator) conducted fidelity checks of sessions.