Transcript Component 1 - KidsMatter

4
COMPONENT
Helping children with mental health difficulties
Acknowledgement of Country
I would like to acknowledge the traditional
custodians of this land and pay my respects to
Elders past, present and future, for they hold the
memories, the traditions, the culture and hopes
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
4
COMPONENT
Professional learning goals
 To understand Component 4 is not about teachers
diagnosing students or becoming psychologists.

To develop a shared understanding about
mental health difficulties in primary school children.

To provide a structured framework for gathering
information about students who might be
experiencing mental health difficulties.

To understand the benefits of getting help early.
 To clarify the role of school staff in getting
students the help they need.

To increase knowledge of common mental
health presentations and additional strategies
to help these students in the classroom.
 To increase understanding of how the four
components of KidsMatter Primary help
students with mental health difficulties.
What is KidsMatter Primary?
A national whole-school approach to mental
health and wellbeing that aims to contribute to:
KidsMatter Primary professional learning
Increase awareness and
understanding of each
of the four components
Encourage ALL staff to have
a voice in contributing to
planning for each component
The KidsMatter Primary framework
The guiding principles
 The best interests of children are paramount.
 Respectful relationships are foundational.
 Diversity is respected and valued.
 Parents and carers are recognised as the
most important people in children’s lives.
 Parents and teachers support children
best by working together.
 Students need to be active participants.
 Schools, health and community agencies
work together with families.
The four components of KidsMatter Primary
KidsMatter model for mental health promotion,
prevention and early intervention (PPEI) in schools
Whole-school
community, staff,
students, parents
and carers, health
and community agencies
All students (and their
parents and carers)
Students experiencing
mental health
difficulties (20-30% of students) and the 3-12%
of students with mental
health disorders, and
their parents and carers
Adapted from World Health Organization (1994)
Works with the whole
community and provides
support and information to
staff, parents and carers
Through the curriculum,
creates opportunities
to practise skills and
engages parents
and carers
Supports children in
school and develops clear
processes and referral
pathways (by working
with parents and carers
and health and
community agencies)
An outline of what’s to come
Session 1:
Recognising children who are
experiencing mental health difficulties
Session 2:
Getting help: Why and how?
Session 3:
Four component support plan
4
COMPONENT
Session 1
Recognising children who are
experiencing mental health difficulties
Mental health difficulties are…
 A very broad range of social, emotional
or behavioural difficulties that may cause
concern or distress.
 Relatively common.
 Sometimes transient, but also encompass
mental health disorders that are more
severe and/or persistent.
 Distinct from children’s normal reactions
to stressful situations (though they may
still require support).
(Adapted from Everybody’s Business, 2001)
A continuum for mental health
Risk and protective factors
for children’s mental health
 Risk factors – increase the chances of children
developing mental health difficulties (for example,
childhood adversities).
 Protective factors – are associated with good
outcomes for children and can protect them in
circumstances where they are exposed to risk.
Risk and protective factors
for children’s mental health
(adapted from Commonwealth Dept of Health and Aged Care, 2000 and Spence, 1996)
What causes mental health difficulties?
Activity
Thinking about your students
 Who are the children that you
are concerned about?
 How many of these children
are in a typical class?
 What are your concerns about
these children?
Prevalence of mental health difficulties
Estimates suggest mental health difficulties
affect 1 in 7 Australian primary school children.
National Child Mental Health Survey (Sawyer et al., 2000)
How might this be reflected in a classroom?
Activity
Thinking about your students
List the most common things you
observe in children who may be
experiencing mental health difficulties,
for example, they:
 are disruptive in class
 are often sad
 have difficulty making friends
 get bullied
 worry a lot
 have trouble sitting still.
Externalising and internalising
 Mental health difficulties can be observed as
externalising or internalising.
 Externalising behaviours are more frequently
noticed than internalising behaviours.
Externalising behaviours
Typical behaviours might include:
 constant arguing with adults
 attention deficits / hyperactivity
 frequent temper tantrums
 hostility toward authority figures
 deliberately annoying others
 quickness to react to others (a ‘short fuse’)
 refusal to carry out requests or conform to rules.
Internalising behaviours
Typical behaviours might include:
 being withdrawn
 isolation from peers
 excessive worrying
 being excessively fussy or perfectionistic
 being fearful or anxious
 often being upset (‘sensitive’)
 being shy or cautious with other people.
What to look for?
Why collect observations?
 Teachers are very good at identifying students
who are experiencing mental difficulties
(Dix et al., 2008).
 Collecting educational observations is part
of what school staff already do.
 Collecting observations also helps:
– address all aspects of mental health difficulties
– provide evidence for your instincts
– organise your thoughts
– communication with other professionals.
Using BETLS
Behaviour – what is the child doing?
Emotions – what might the child be feeling?
Thoughts – what might the child be thinking?
Learning issues – what area of learning is the child
having difficulty with?
Social issues – what area of social functioning is
the child having difficulty with?
Activity
BETLS: Part 1
 What do you notice about this child
that concerns you?
 Try to separate your observations
into the different categories.
Activity What do we know about Sam?
Activity What do we know about Maya?
Activity
BETLS: Part 2
There are a number of other people that
have observed Maya and Sam…
 What do you notice about the BETLS
chart now?
 Is there any additional information
that might be helpful to gather?
What now?
 Should I be concerned?
– The more symptoms/behaviours persist over time
(> 2 weeks)
– The more they are noticeable across different situations
and contexts.
– The more they interfere with functioning (for example,
schoolwork, relationships) and cause distress to the
person and others.
 The greater the concern…
– Act on the side of caution.
– If concerned, speak to someone at your school.
– You do not have to act alone.
At your school, what is the process for raising
concerns about a child? Who do you talk to?
Summary
 Mental health difficulties are on a continuum.
 Behaviour can be observed as internalising or
externalising.
 It’s useful to gather information from different
people, over time and across situations (BETLS).
 It is important to discuss your concerns with the
appropriate person – who is this in your school?
4
COMPONENT
Session 2
Getting help: Why and how?
Key messages from last session
 Mental health difficulties are on a continuum.
 Behaviour can be observed as internalising or
externalising.
 It’s useful to gather information from different
people, over time and across situations (BETLS).
 It is important to discuss your concerns with the
appropriate person – who is this in your school?
Mental health difficulties in childhood
 For many students, mental health difficulties are
transitory and resolve over time, but they still
benefit from support.
 For others, mental health difficulties can be
distressing and may interfere with everyday
activities and enjoyment of life over a longer period
of time.
 Without help, many mental health difficulties can
become progressively worse and further disrupt
the child’s academic and social development.
Potential pathways and outcomes from childhood
Getting help is important because it…
 Minimises the negative impact of mental
health problems.
 Reduces the chance of developing more
serious mental health problems.
 Is easier to treat mental health problems
at an early age.
Getting help…
 Improves children’s mental health and
helps them to:
– enjoy life
– handle challenges
– be better learners
– relate to others in a positive way.
Better mental health enables children to more successfully
manage the transition to adolescence and adulthood,
including having better prospects for employment.
Picking up the signs and
doing something about it
Schools and staff are well placed to help because
they:
 know and understand their students through
regular contact across a variety of situations
 are exposed to many children, so can identify
signs that are concerning and not part of normal
development
 can facilitate access, together with community
agencies, to effective interventions.
The goal is to prevent problems worsening
and improve the child’s mental health.
How do you decide what to do?
See next slide for details.
Methods of support
Discussion
Referrals: A starting point
At your school, when a staff member has a concern about a child…
Referrals: Who can help?
Professionals and services in
the community who can help:
 General practitioner
 Counsellor
 Paediatrician/ child
psychiatrist
 Psychologist
 Psychiatrist
 Occupational therapist
 Child and adolescent
mental health services
 Mental health nurse
 Non-government
community agencies
 Social worker
 Community health centres
* Increased access to private
psychologists through Medicare.
Supporting external referrals
 Discuss your observations of the child (BETLS)
with the mental health professional.
 Make continual efforts to destigmatise mental
health problems through positive attitudes.
 Encourage a help-seeking school environment.
 Support parents and carers:
– Remember Components 1 and 3.
– Continue developing collaborative working relationships.
– Facilitate access to mental health information.
School-based strategies:
Why do we need them?
 External referrals are not always necessary,
accepted or available.
 Even when external services are involved, the best
outcomes are achieved when children are also
supported at school.
 Support provided at school can have a significant
positive influence on children’s mental health.
 Particular strategies often work best with particular
types of difficulties.
Activity
Signs and strategies
 Read the common signs of five
different types of mental health
difficulties.
 Brainstorm strategies that may
suit each type.
 Compare your list with KidsMatter
Primary suggestions.
KidsMatter Primary supporting resources
 Component 4 information sheets, including topics:
– Children’s mental health difficulties and how to get help
– Children with depression
– Children with anxiety problems
– Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD)
– Children with serious behavioural problems
– Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
 Enewsletters
 www.kidsmatter.edu.au
Summary
Getting help early:
 minimises the negative impact of mental
health difficulties
 is about recognising signs of a problem
and doing something about it
 involves decision-making by all staff
regarding referrals, school-based strategies
and mental health promotion.
Reflection
Where to next?
To help a child experiencing mental health
difficulties…
 What is one thing I can do immediately?
 What is one thing our school can
do to support these children better?
Evaluation outcomes
 Improvements to student mental health:
– Increased positive mental health.
– Reduced mental health difficulties.
– Students experiencing mental health difficulties showed
significant improvements in their mental health.
 14% more teachers strongly agreed that
KidsMatter Primary led to improvements in
students’ schoolwork.
Component 4: Evaluation outcomes
 Teachers believed the school had improved its
capacity to support students experiencing mental
health difficulties.
 Teachers felt more capable of recognising students
experiencing mental health difficulties.
4
COMPONENT
Session 3
Four component support plan
Key messages from last session
Getting help early:
 minimises the negative impact of mental
health difficulties
 is about recognising signs of a problem
and doing something about it
 involves decision-making by all staff
regarding referrals, school-based strategies
and mental health promotion.
Four component support
Steps to effectively helping students
Holistic support for
children experiencing
mental health
difficulties
Component 1:
Positive school community
 Belonging and connectedness
 Inclusion
 Collaborative involvement
How does Component 1 support children
experiencing mental health difficulties?
Component 2:
Social and emotional learning for students
 Five core social and emotional competencies.
 Taught formally, regularly and in a coordinated
way throughout the school.
 SEL skills are practised and generalised.
How does Component 2 support children
experiencing mental health difficulties?
Component 3:
Working with parents and carers
 Promotes effective relationships between
parents and carers and school staff.
 Provides parenting support and information.
 Creates opportunities for families to
develop support networks with each other
and the community.
How does Component 3 support children
experiencing mental health difficulties?
Component 4:
Helping children with mental health difficulties
 Recognise and act on early signs of mental health
difficulties.
 Develop policies and practices within the school,
and identify clear roles and responsibilities.
 Connect students and families with help before
difficulties worsen.
 Implement appropriate school-based strategies to
support children with mental health difficulties.
Activity
Four component support plan
 Think about a child who may be
experiencing mental health difficulties.
 Complete the support planner.
Where to from here?
 For Component 4:
– What’s coming up?
– What more do we need to find out?
– Ideas for Component 4 planning.
 For KidsMatter Primary:
– Cycle of continuous improvement.
– Keep up-to-date at www.kidsmatter.edu.au