The impact of a specialized training programme on teacher mental health literacy in Central Sri Lanka

Abstract

Objectives: Globally 10-20% of children and adolescents are suffering from mental health disorders. Improving mental health literacy (MHL) of teachers supports early detection and referral of children with mental health problems. In a background of no organized programs to improve teachers’ MHL training, “Sisu Sitha Noridawa (SSN)” (not hurting students’ feelings) was developed and conducted in central Sri Lanka to explore the effects of the intervention on teacher MHL. Method: There were 251 teachers participated in the study. To begin, Psychiatrist authors facilitated small group discussions on ten case vignettes of common child psychiatry problems and then large group discussions using mini lectures and a handbook. Pre and post-tests were conducted to assess knowledge and attitudes on mental health problems of school children. The scores were analyzed using, Paired T-test in SPSS 17. Results: A majority (73.7%) of teachers claimed to have encountered students with mental health issues. The mean score differences of pre and posttest in both knowledge and attitude components showed statistically significant differences with p values 0.2 in each, indicating the training had a significant positive impact on improving both the knowledge and attitude about mental health. Conclusions: The training program had a significant positive impact on improving the MHL of participants on common child and adolescent mental health problems. The sustainability of achieved effects and their application in the classroom need exploration in a long-term study. SSN is a feasible and effective training program to be included in the existing teacher-training curriculum with in-service booster SSN programs, in a middle-income country like Sri Lanka.