Connors Elizabeth H, Moffa Kathryn, Carter Taneisha, Crocker John, Bohnenkamp Jill H, Lever Nancy A, Hoover Sharon A
Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, 389 Whitney Avenue, Office 106, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
National Center for School Mental Health, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 737 West Lombard Street, 4 Floor, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
Psychol Sch. 2022 Jun;59(6):1135-1157. doi: 10.1002/pits.22670. Epub 2022 Feb 12.
Schools are well positioned to facilitate early identification and intervention for youth with emerging mental health needs through universal mental health screening. Early identification of mental health concerns via screening can improve long-term student development and success, but schools face logistical challenges and lack of pragmatic guidance to develop local screening policies and practices. This study summarizes mental health screening practices tested by six school districts participating in a 15-month learning collaborative. Qualitative analysis of 42 Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles revealed that districts tested quality improvement changes across seven screening practice areas, with all teams conducting at least one test to: 1) build a foundation; and 2) identify resources, logistics and administration processes. Quantitative data indicated that the average percentage of total students screened increased from 0% to 22% (range = 270 - 4,850 students screened at follow-up). Together, these results demonstrate how school districts not currently engaged in mental health screening can apply small, specific tests of change to develop a locally-tailored, practical and scalable process to screen for student mental health concerns. Lessons learned are provided to inform future directions for school-based teams.
学校有能力通过普遍的心理健康筛查，为有心理健康需求的青少年提供早期识别和干预。通过筛查早期发现心理健康问题，可以促进学生的长期发展并取得成功，但学校在制定当地筛查政策和实践方面面临后勤挑战且缺乏实用指导。本研究总结了六个参与为期15个月学习合作项目的学区所测试的心理健康筛查实践。对42个计划-实施-研究-改进循环的定性分析表明，各学区在七个筛查实践领域测试了质量改进措施，所有团队至少进行了一项测试，以：1）奠定基础；2）确定资源、后勤和管理流程。定量数据显示，接受筛查的学生总数平均百分比从0%增至22%（范围为随访时筛查270至4850名学生）。这些结果共同表明，目前未开展心理健康筛查的学区如何通过进行小规模、特定的变革测试，来制定适合当地情况、实用且可扩展的学生心理健康问题筛查流程。文中还提供了经验教训，为学校团队的未来发展方向提供参考。
