alberta coalition for healthy school communities conference september, 2006 knowledge-sharing...
TRANSCRIPT
Alberta Coalition for Healthy School Communities Conference
September, 2006
Knowledge-Sharing Session on School Mental Health Promotion
Session Framework
• Dialogue-Everyone will have a valuable contribution to make.
• Present a starting point for discussion today and then see where it takes us within targeted topic areas.
• Discuss how this dialogue might encourage others like it, leading to ACTION, in Alberta.
Today’s Prevailing Principles
• Whoever is here are the right people for today’s discussion.
• Whatever results we get are the best we can achieve through today’s opportunity.
What we know…in Canada (1)
Kirby Report• Children’s mental health most neglected
piece of Canadian health care system-Kirby
• Stigma of mental illness, esp. in children, leads to service “orphan of the orphan”.-Kirby
• There is no “voice” for people, esp. children, with mental illness
What we know…in Canada (2)
• Kirby- Service Delivery StatisticsEstimated need for child and adolescent
psychiatrists=1 per 4000 youth. (Cdn.Academy of Child and Adolescent Psych.)
Should have 2000 psychiatrists in Canada. Currently 400.
Ontario has 1 for 32,000 youth, Quebec has 1 for 11,000, other provinces similar
10 new graduates annuallyUnderfunded and underprovided community-based
and preventive services
What we know…in Canada(3)
• Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health:– Canada lags behind many other western
countries that are making mental health a national priority...it takes national leadership to confront the fact that now 5/10 of leading causes of disability are now due to mental illness.
What we know…in Alberta (1)
• Key Issues (Advancing the Mental Health Agenda, April 2004)Service capacity and gaps, especially for childrenStigmatization and inequity-creates significant barriers
to treatmentFunding inadequacyNeed for integrated service deliveryNeed for decentralized, multi-provider service
environmentNeed to address organizational barriers to integrating
services
What we know…in Alberta (2)
• Student Health Partnership is only current vehicle to provide school-based mental health programming to students.
• SHP funding envelope represents approx. 1% of jurisdictional educational budgets, and must meet mental health, speech-language, occupational therapy, other health needs impacting learning potential within the school setting.
• Service outcomes must be directly related to meeting academic goals.
What is school mental health promotion?
– From your perspective, what would be the critical components to a definition of school mental health promotion?
INTERCAMHS Working Definition –(International Alliance for Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Schools)
• Whole School Approach
Mental Health PromotionInterventionTreatment
Working Definition(2)
• Supported by:
PoliciesSkills for Social Emotional LearningHealthy psycho-social school environmentAccess to services in the school or in the
broader community.
Working Definition (3)
• Full participation of teachers, students, families and community agencies
Informed dialogueCollaboration among people and programsThroughout all phases of the continuum.
Working Definition (4)
• Supported by principles that:
Value diversity and inclusivenessCreate conditions for empowermentSupport school organizational development
Working Definition (5)
• Critical Role of Evidence to guide training, policy, research and practice across:
Universal mental health promotion (resources and programs for all students)
Selective interventions (prevention programs for students presenting risk factors for problems)
Indicated interventions (early interventions to students exhibiting emotional and behavioral problems)
Treatment (more intensive services for established emotional/behavioral problems.)
SCHOOL BASED MENTAL HEALTHINTEGRATION-Service Continuum
Promotion Prevention Early Intervention Treatment Spec. Services
Integration-Critical Factors
• Shared Agenda• Infrastructure
• Policy• Practice
• Training/Capacity Development• Research
SCHOOL BASED MENTAL HEALTHINTEGRATION-Framework Components
Promotion Prevention Early Intervention Treatment Spec. Services
Shared Agenda Infrastructure Policy
Practice Training/Capacity Development Research
CONTACTS
• Gloria Wells: [email protected]
• International Alliance for Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Schools: www.intercamhs.org
• Creating Connections Symposium: www.creatingconnections2006.org