Staff perspectives on poor mental health in secondary school students: an increasing problem handled with insufficient resources
IntroductionAn increasing number of schools are recognizing the importance of addressing students' mental health based on the association with educational outcomes and long-term health. The school organization and the members of the school staff play important but, in several ways, challenging...
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2024
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1292520 https://doaj.org/article/9bdbc07c03de41c5ba9100c76a8a093b |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9bdbc07c03de41c5ba9100c76a8a093b 2024-09-15T18:26:10+00:00 Staff perspectives on poor mental health in secondary school students: an increasing problem handled with insufficient resources Åsa Svensson Maria Warne 2024-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1292520 https://doaj.org/article/9bdbc07c03de41c5ba9100c76a8a093b EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1292520/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-2565 2296-2565 doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1292520 https://doaj.org/article/9bdbc07c03de41c5ba9100c76a8a093b Frontiers in Public Health, Vol 12 (2024) adolescent focus group teacher school health promotion school health services Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2024 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1292520 2024-08-05T17:49:56Z IntroductionAn increasing number of schools are recognizing the importance of addressing students' mental health based on the association with educational outcomes and long-term health. The school organization and the members of the school staff play important but, in several ways, challenging roles in this work. The purpose of this study was to explore views of staff from schools and school health services on mental ill health among students and their own role in detecting and managing it.MethodsA qualitative study was conducted in a sparsely populated municipality in northern Sweden. In total, 40 participants from three secondary schools and the school health services participated either in focus groups or individual interviews. Participants were teachers, assistants, school nurses, school counselors and psychologists. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.ResultsThe analysis revealed the main theme Student mental ill health: an increasing problem handled with insufficient resources and two subthemes, i.e., Uncertainty in interpreting students' signs of mental ill health and the need to clarify roles and establish a supportive organization.ConclusionsIt was concluded that school staff were uncertain regarding how to interpret signs of mental ill health among students and required better knowledge and more resources to help students with mental ill health. A clearer organization and consensus regarding support for students with mental ill health were also necessary in light of the division of responsibilities between school staff and the school health services. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Sweden Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Public Health 12 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
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English |
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adolescent focus group teacher school health promotion school health services Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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adolescent focus group teacher school health promotion school health services Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Åsa Svensson Maria Warne Staff perspectives on poor mental health in secondary school students: an increasing problem handled with insufficient resources |
topic_facet |
adolescent focus group teacher school health promotion school health services Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
IntroductionAn increasing number of schools are recognizing the importance of addressing students' mental health based on the association with educational outcomes and long-term health. The school organization and the members of the school staff play important but, in several ways, challenging roles in this work. The purpose of this study was to explore views of staff from schools and school health services on mental ill health among students and their own role in detecting and managing it.MethodsA qualitative study was conducted in a sparsely populated municipality in northern Sweden. In total, 40 participants from three secondary schools and the school health services participated either in focus groups or individual interviews. Participants were teachers, assistants, school nurses, school counselors and psychologists. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.ResultsThe analysis revealed the main theme Student mental ill health: an increasing problem handled with insufficient resources and two subthemes, i.e., Uncertainty in interpreting students' signs of mental ill health and the need to clarify roles and establish a supportive organization.ConclusionsIt was concluded that school staff were uncertain regarding how to interpret signs of mental ill health among students and required better knowledge and more resources to help students with mental ill health. A clearer organization and consensus regarding support for students with mental ill health were also necessary in light of the division of responsibilities between school staff and the school health services. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Åsa Svensson Maria Warne |
author_facet |
Åsa Svensson Maria Warne |
author_sort |
Åsa Svensson |
title |
Staff perspectives on poor mental health in secondary school students: an increasing problem handled with insufficient resources |
title_short |
Staff perspectives on poor mental health in secondary school students: an increasing problem handled with insufficient resources |
title_full |
Staff perspectives on poor mental health in secondary school students: an increasing problem handled with insufficient resources |
title_fullStr |
Staff perspectives on poor mental health in secondary school students: an increasing problem handled with insufficient resources |
title_full_unstemmed |
Staff perspectives on poor mental health in secondary school students: an increasing problem handled with insufficient resources |
title_sort |
staff perspectives on poor mental health in secondary school students: an increasing problem handled with insufficient resources |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1292520 https://doaj.org/article/9bdbc07c03de41c5ba9100c76a8a093b |
genre |
Northern Sweden |
genre_facet |
Northern Sweden |
op_source |
Frontiers in Public Health, Vol 12 (2024) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1292520/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-2565 2296-2565 doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1292520 https://doaj.org/article/9bdbc07c03de41c5ba9100c76a8a093b |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1292520 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Public Health |
container_volume |
12 |
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1810466621101178880 |