Mental Health Literacy in Action: A Pilot Study of a Classroom-Based Program in Australia

Abstract 

Introduction: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australian adolescents have expressed significant worries about managing their stress and well-being. One way to address this concern is to use innovative school-based mental health literacy programs, grounded in clinical psychology, to serve as a platform for nurturing mental health competencies (e.g., emotion regulation, peer communication, coping skills) through interactive and reflective exploration of mental health-related subjects that are designed to reduce the burden of instructing in these areas on teachers. The education system is poised as an ideal environment in which to deliver this mental health literacy to children and adolescents and address the growing mental health challenges present for today’s youth (Vamos et al., 2020) because schools are uniquely positioned to offer mental health literacy over the course of child development, and allow access to a broad range of students from all backgrounds (Morrison and Peterson, 2013; Seligman et al., 2009). In an Australian school district, the aim of the current study was to evaluate the acceptability, feasibility, and perceived impact of running the Open Parachute program, which is designed to foster mental health through classroom instruction. We hypothesized that the Open Parachute program would be feasible and acceptable, serving multiple benefits, as it offers a unique mental health literacy curriculum that addresses current limitations, due to the design and delivery of the intervention.

Methods: A total of 24, Year 2-12 teachers and 13 leadership staff were recruited via convenience sampling from schools that delivered the Open Parachute program during the 2022-2023 school year in South Australia, Australia. After delivery of the Open Parachute intervention, teachers and school administrators were invited to complete a post-intervention survey that asked them to report on their demographics, the feasibility and acceptability of the program, as well as the perceived benefit to teachers and students. Descriptive statistics were used to explore sample demographics and intervention feasibility and acceptability.

Results: Results show high program feasibility and acceptability, with 89% of educators intending to use the program again and 92% reporting they would recommend it to a colleague. Educators reported multiple benefits to themselves including improved mental health literacy (50%) and student support skills (50%). 84% of teachers reported that they observed students using the skills they learned in the Open Parachute program. Reported benefits to students include a better ability to communicate with peers/adults, to soothe their own emotions and to problem-solve personal/peer/school-related challenges. Educators also reported that they observed greater gains in emotional regulation and empathy in elementary students when compared to high school students.

Conclusion: This study provides preliminary evidence for the feasibility and acceptability of running the Open Parachute program in an Australian school setting. The findings highlight the seamless integration of the program into existing curricula, the ease of use of the program, and high fidelity through consistent adherence to the intended delivery of the program. Overall, the findings underscore the Open Parachute program's potential to support teachers in fostering mental health literacy while navigating the complexities of educational settings.