Taking evidence-based practices to school: using expert opinion to develop a brief, evidence-informed school-based mental health intervention

Abstract

School-based mental health services offer unparalleled opportunities for providing accessible care to children and adolescents. Research indicates that services available in schools are rarely based on evidence of effectiveness and are typically disconnected from the larger school context. To address these issues, the current paper presents initial studies to inform the development of a brief, evidence-based, flexible mental health intervention that fits the school context while maintaining clear structure. Results from two qualitative research studies – key informant interviews with school mental health experts and a nominal group decision-making process with stakeholders – are presented, both of which were aimed at informing intervention development and testing assumptions about how best to design an effective, context-specific mental health intervention that can be flexibly applied in educational settings. An explicit focus on educational outcomes within the context of mental health service delivery was identified as a key component of this integration. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this research has influenced the ongoing development of the intervention protocol, exemplifying a collaborative and iterative approach to developing school-based programmes.

Keywords::

• evidence-based practice
• educational outcomes
• appropriateness
• compatibility
• mental health integration
• school mental health
• common elements

Additional information

Funding

This publication was made possible in part by funding from the Institute of Education Sciences [grant number R305A120128], a grant awarded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) [grant K08 MH095939], and funding from the American Psychological Foundation.Dr Lyon is an investigator with the Implementation Research Institute, at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, St Louis; through an award from the National Institute of Mental Health (R25 MH080916) and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research & Development Service, Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI).