Engaging Teachers and School Leaders in Participatory Data Analysis for the Development of a School-Based Mental Health Intervention

Abstract

The success of school-based mental health interventions is often inconsistent, in part due to lack of input from teachers and students in the programme design. Therefore, the involvement and engagement of teachers in the co-production of an intervention, especially within data analysis, can create more innovative and effective solutions. This paper presents a teacher-led qualitative data analysis using a new approach within the field, participation theme elicitation. This approach will be used to gather information relevant to the initial development of a school-based mental health intervention. Teachers identified the following themes: (1) physical activity as a stress reliever, (2) programme facilitation, (3) exam pressure and (4) solutions to improve negative mental health. Results from the teacher-led analysis are broadly similar to previous research in the field. Our findings demonstrate that teachers can have a valuable input into research findings which should help address the development of a school-based mental health intervention. In summary, the findings suggest that the use of participatory theme elicitation is a valid and effective method to address the gaps and limitations of participatory qualitative data analysis.

Supporting Students’ Mental Health Needs: A Primer for Secondary School Leaders

“…The focus of the universal mental health screening is on the student; however, school administrators must also involve a variety of educational stakeholders in the planning stages. Before mental health screening can begin, building consensus among families, school board members, school staff and students is an important step (Neill et al, 2021; Shapiro et al, 2020). Consensus among educational researchers suggests that approximately 80% of the participating stakeholders must indicate buy-in with the initiative prior to beginning (Horner et al, 2009).…”