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Building the Research Agenda in School Mental Health. Mark D. Weist, Ph.D. Center for School Mental Health University of Maryland 11.05.09.
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Building the Research Agenda in School Mental Health Mark D. Weist, Ph.D. Center for School Mental Health University of Maryland 11.05.09
Center for School Mental Health* University of Maryland School of Medicinehttp://csmh.umaryland.edu*Supported by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, and numerous Maryland agencies
“Expanded” School Mental Health • Full continuum of effective mental health promotion and intervention for students in general and special education • Reflecting a “shared agenda” involving school-family-community system partnerships • Collaborating community professionals (not outsiders) augment the work of school-employed staff
Fundamental Three-Part Rationale • Schools are under-resourced for mental health promotion and intervention • Connections between people and traditional community mental health centers are difficult • By coming together in the most universal natural setting for youth, there are advantages for both systems, and synergies enhance opportunities to achieve valued outcomes
Access Advantages • Reduced initial stigma of services • Reduced burden of initial help seeking • Increased likelihood of early problem identification • Reduced stigma for ongoing service use • Reduced burden of ongoing service use
Promotion/Prevention Advantages • Increased ability for environmental enhancement and universal prevention • Enhanced ability for prevention • Increased support to educational staff
Service Implementation Advantages • Increased interdisciplinary collaboration • Increased involvement of diverse stakeholders • More efficient (and less costly) services • Enhanced ability for assessment and intervention in multiple settings, enhanced maintenance/generalization
Research Supported Programs • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration’s National Registry of Effective Programs and Practices • www.nrepp.samhsa.com • On October 24, 2009, 147 research supported interventions were reported, with 54 coming up with the search term “schools”
Research Supported Programs Involve • Strong training • Fidelity monitoring • Ongoing technical assistance and coaching • Administrative support • Incentives • Intangibles
Practice in the trenches • Involves NONE of these supports
Other Critical Issues • Contingencies related to financing • Absence of accountability mechanisms • School fluidity • Crowded agendas in schools • Jadedness of school systems and staff
Central Theme of CSMH • Bridging research and practice in school mental health to enhance the implementation of high quality, evidence-based programs leading to improvements in outcomes valued by families and schools
Four Themes in Quality Services • Systematic Quality Assessment and Improvement • Family Engagement and Empowerment • Modular, Evidence-Based Skill Training • Implementation Support
Working Effectively with Students and Families • Early on focus on engagement, e.g., through candid discussions about past experiences • Emphasize empowerment and the potential for improvement • Provide pragmatic support • Emphasize mutual collaboration
Modular Intervention • Chorpita, B.F., & Daleiden, E.L. (2007). 2007 Biennial Report: Effective Psychosocial Intervention for Youth with Behavioral and Emotional Needs. Child and Mental Health Division, Hawaii Department of Health • (Reviews most important treatment foci for Anxiety, Attention Problems, Autism, Depression, Disruptive Behavior Disorders, Substance Use, and Traumatic Stress) • http://hawaii.gov/health/mental-health/camhd/library/pdf/ebs/ebs012.pdf
Implementation Support • Interactive and lively teaching • Off and on-site coaching, performance assessment and feedback, emotional and administrative support • Peer to peer support • User friendliness • see Dean Fixsen, Karen Blasé, National Implementation Research Network (NIRN)
A National Community of Practice • CSMH and IDEA Partnership (www.ideapartnership.org) providing support • 30 professional organizations and 13 states • 12 practice groups • Providing mutual support, opportunities for dialogue and collaboration • Advancing multiscale learning systems • Sign up at www.sharedwork.org
Next Meeting of the National (International) Community • In conjunction with the 15th Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health • Albuquerque, New Mexico • October 6-9, 2010 • See http://csmh.umaryland.edu
www.schoolmentalhealth.org • Website developed and maintained by the CSMH with funding from the Baltimore City Health Department and Maryland Departments of Education and Mental Health • User-friendly school mental health information and resources for caregivers, teachers, clinicians, and youth
Contact Information • Center for School Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry University of Maryland 737 W. Lombard Street, 4th Floor Baltimore, MD 21201 PH: 410-706-0980 FX: 410-706-0984 mweist@psych.umaryland.eduhttp://csmh.umaryland.edu