school management
Mental health practitioners need to be accessible and available to all students .
Better than a cure
The case for making mental health a top priority for schools .
By Christopher Fisher
When it comes to mental health problems , an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure , and this is especially true of our youth .
Left untreated , mental health issues can lead to increasingly challenging outcomes in childhood and adolescent years as well as into adulthood . Early intervention and treatment can help to significantly reduce the risk of serious health issues over the short- and long-term .
The pandemic , along with a growing body of research , has shown us how vulnerable young people can be to mental health problems . Young people at school are in a developmental stage of life where they are learning and practicing socialisation skills .
Now that schools are back to operating as ‘ normal ’, more can be done by schools and state and territory governments to support the mental health of students .
Having a mental health practitioner in schools is an ideal situation whereby a student ’ s mental health challenges can be quickly identified and assessed , and interventions provided to the student . Offering such accessible support can help to keep our youth in good mental health and avoid problems at school and elsewhere such as defiant or violent behaviours , excessive risk taking , addictions and other mental health-related problems .
In addition , early intervention treatment can help to reduce the risk of more serious mental health outcomes developing later in life . Early intervention enables youth to learn skills to help them cope and manage their mental health throughout life and become more resilient .
VICTORIA PAVES FIRST STEPS Victoria ’ s example of introducing mental health practitioners into secondary schools provides a positive example to other states and territories .
The initiative started in Term 3 2019 , and is currently rolled out to more than 300 secondary school campuses across the state .
Teachers and other school staff spend as much time , if not more , with young people as their parents do . It is not uncommon for teachers to witness a young person struggling with mental ill-health well before anyone else notices something is not right .
However , while Victoria ’ s model of funding is a great first step towards meeting this need , the government should provide more funding to place more mental health practitioners in schools . The allocation of mental health practitioners is based on student enrolments , with each campus receiving one half-time employee on average .
This is not likely to be anywhere near enough to meet the needs of a school with a few hundred students . To be effective , mental health practitioners need to be accessible and available to all students as support often needs to be ongoing .
Other states should look to Victoria ’ s model as a first step but go even further and make sure that the number of mental health professionals employed by schools can meet the needs of all students enrolled at school .
Determining the level of adequate resourcing in schools can be challenging as not all young people experience mental health in the same way . For example , recent Australian research indicates young LGBTQIA + people are significantly more likely to experience mental distress due to discrimination , bullying and other factors ( Hill et al ., 2021 ).
Victoria ’ s policy is a good start but resourcing additional support services in schools with more vulnerable populations ( e . g ., LGBTQIA +, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander , areas with higher rates of juvenile justice interactions , etc .) might be a good next step .
Schools play a key role in providing a positive learning and social environment for all students . Building an education system that will help our youth build resilience and equip them with the skills to support their mental health and wellbeing requires a firm funding commitment from all state and territory governments . The training of mental health professionals is an important part of meeting this need . Postgraduate education can provide the opportunities for practitioners to expand their expertise and identify the broader systemic issues that impact mental health of school students , for example , stigma and discrimination , which often stop struggling students from taking the first step to getting help . ■
Christopher Fisher is the academic course coordinator and Director of Teaching and Learning for VU College of Biomedicine and Health offerings at VU Online .
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