Mental health literacy development: Application of online and in-person professional development for preservice teachers to address knowledge, stigma, and help-seeking intentions.

Abstract

Educators play a significant role in addressing student mental health. However, most educators in Canada indicate that they did not receive adequate mental health education to prepare for this role. One potential solution is to engage preservice teachers and provide professional development opportunities for improving their mental health literacy before they enter the workforce. We developed a professional development opportunity (both online and in-person) for preservice teachers to learn how to utilize a mental health literacy resource in their future classrooms. One hundred seventy-six preservice teachers in the secondary and middle years programs from a large Canadian university faculty of education voluntarily participated in this quasi-experimental study. They were assigned to 3 groups based on their demographics (preservice teachers in either the urban or rural secondary or middle years cohorts), with 1 group receiving the intervention face-to-face, 1 group receiving it online, and the third group as control. They were evaluated on knowledge, stigma and help-seeking intentions at baseline, immediately post the intervention, and at 3-month follow-up. Both the in-person and the online groups demonstrated statistically significant improvements on knowledge, stigma reduction, and enhancement on help-seeking intentions post the intervention (p Ͻ .000), compared to the control group. Knowledge and stigma outcomes were sustained at 3-month follow-up (p Ͻ .000). The use of both an online professional development and in-person delivery approaches can be considered as viable strategies to promote the mental health literacy of preservice teachers, increasing the ease and reach of this evidence-based mental health literacy resource. Public Significance StatementMental health literacy (MHL) resources have traditionally been taught using face-to-face methods. This study compared a novel online approach to the face-to-face method, as well as a control group. The results showed similar significant positive improvements of MHL in preservice teachers between the online and face-to-face methods, indicating an online method can be used where face-to-face methods may not be feasible.

Improving university students’ mental health literacy using experiential learning opportunities

“…Mental health literacy (MHL) may be defined as ‘the awareness and ability to accurately recognise mental health conditions, and understand risk factors, non-stigmatising attitudes and self-help techniques to facilitate the ability to seek mental health support for the management and prevention of mental ill-health’ (Reis et al, 2022: 649). Over the past few years, a large body of research has been directed to exploring opportunities to increase different aspects of MHL among university students (Hunt et al, 2019; Lo et al, 2018; Wei et al, 2020). Some of these have included efforts to increase knowledge of the support available, both internal and external to the university environment (Quinn et al, 2009; Storrie et al, 2010), encouraging help-seeking behaviours (Clough et al, 2020; Wei et al, 2020) and teaching skills relevant to resilience and positive mental health (Galante et al, 2018; Houston et al, 2017).…”

“…Over the past few years, a large body of research has been directed to exploring opportunities to increase different aspects of MHL among university students (Hunt et al, 2019; Lo et al, 2018; Wei et al, 2020). Some of these have included efforts to increase knowledge of the support available, both internal and external to the university environment (Quinn et al, 2009; Storrie et al, 2010), encouraging help-seeking behaviours (Clough et al, 2020; Wei et al, 2020) and teaching skills relevant to resilience and positive mental health (Galante et al, 2018; Houston et al, 2017).…”

Providers as Stakeholders in Addressing Implementation Barriers to Youth Mental Healthcare

“…Additionally, the school’s culture and attitudes about mental health, particularly those of teachers and administration who may be involved in deciding which students need screening and services or allocating time to mental health programming, may also be directly related to barriers like stigma and lack of resources that impact availability and effectiveness of services. Research suggests that brief interventions to improve school personnel’s mental health literacy can have a direct impact on stigma and later helping behavior with students in need (Parker et al, in press; Wei et al, 2020 ; Whitley et al, 2018 ). Additionally, providing education about the reciprocal relationship between academics and mental health, as well as the financial burden of not addressing students’ socioemotional needs, to administrative leadership may also be a necessary step to overcome inner setting implementation barriers like limited knowledge, stigma, and the lack of resources allocated toward mental health (Chisholm et al, 2016 ; Kern et al, 2017 ).…”

Assessing the Social Impact of Mental Health Service Accessibility by a Nonprofit Social Enterprise: A Mixed--methods Case Study

“…This may be due to a general lack of knowledge concerning mental health services (Hundt et al, 2018;Saechao et al, 2012), which is often impacted by poor access to mental health resources (Browne et al, 2019;Hundt et al, 2018;Pfeiffer et al, 2016). Acquiring accurate knowledge about the types and purposes of different available mental health services is commonly cited as a precursor to access (Schnyder et al, 2018;Wei, Carr, Alaffe, & Kutcher, 2019). Yet, even when individuals are aware of mental health services, research shows that a lack of confidence in mental health providers can be another barrier to accessing help (Gaston, Earl, Nisanci, & Glomb, 2016;Rughani, Deane, & Wilson, 2011).…”

“…Researchers were interested in how engagement with the storefront might impact mental health stigma. Following research findings cited in the literature review, some studies (Schnyder et al, 2018;Wei, Carr, Alaffe, & Kutcher, 2019) show how increased mental health knowledge can reduce stigmatizing attitudes toward help-seeking behaviour among a variety of social groups. A similar effect may be measured by testing whether or not the number of visits to the social enterprise storefront contributes to more positive perceptions of mental health service use.…”