Our recent efforts have been focused on information gathering. We have discussed the vitality of gathering data and are working on a questionnaire which will focus on high-school aged students. We hope to pose questions such as "do you know anyone who has dealt with anxiety or depression?" and "What would you do if you found out a friend had anxiety or depression?". We are still finalizing this questionnaire. As discussed, access to schools could be complicated so we're deciding upon the best means of implementation.
I was able to interview Jody Valantine, a high school counselor for Pineview High school in St. George, about the programs and curriculum implemented at her school. Mrs. Valantine says that her school implements a health and wellness curriculum with different subjects each year. This year's focus is Resiliency and they are using the "7 C's of resiliency". Last year the topic was Responsibility and there was focus on responsibility for self, others, family and community.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing programs at Pineview High School is the "Hope Squad". As explained by Mrs Valantine, the entire student body fills out a survey asking which of their peers they would feel most comfortable talking to if they were ever in trouble or in need, depressed, struggling etc. The students who receive the most votes from their peers are asked to join the "hope squad". If they agree, they participate in a training over the summer as well as small trainings throughout the year. During these trainings the "hope squad" learns how to recognize signs of mental health concerns including suicidal tendencies as well as how to help their peers and when/who to tell if the problem is serious enough. Apparently this program began in Provo school district in response to an instance of multiple suicides taking place within a short period of time.
Mrs Valantine also informed me of a parent night that includes the entire school district and Southwest Mental Health, as a social services agency, provides a presentation on mental health awareness for the parents of high school students.
An LCSW from Southwest Mental Health is available at the high school for half a day on Tuesdays. In response to the question of what might be helpful to the school and the students she suggested that having an LCSW available more often would be one of the most beneficial changes she can think of. In her opinion as the school counselor, the kids would concur with this need. She maintains that the students who do not utilize these services would not be affected and really wouldn't notice a difference but those who do attend therapy would greatly benefit from increased availability of an LCSW.
We've done more research into NAMI and found that in addition to Parents and Teachers as Allies, there is a program called Ending the Silence. This is a free, 50-minute presentation lead by a team of professionally trained presenters which includes a young adult living in recovery of mental illness.
See the link below.
http://www.nami.org//template.cfm?section=NAMI_ENDING_THE_SILENCE
Josh is working on setting up a meeting with his NAMI contact, school based prevention specialist, Julie Schwartz. As many of our group as possible will be meeting together with her. Our group seems to be leaning more towards partnership with NAMI in hopes to make schools and educators more aware of the amazing resources that already exist within the area on which we want to focus.
We have agreed as a group to have a rough draft of our contextualizing the problem paper following the Thanksgiving break in order to bring together the different components and ensure maximum cohesion and finalize any additional details.
-jason
