Elementary mental health literacy

The  Alberta Mental Health Literacy Project is known across the province and country for quality mental health resources and training. They're Alberta Health Services' go-to team when it comes to building mental health literacy. 

One of the secrets to their success? Powerful partnerships. Everything the team does happens in collaboration with others. Resources for teachers and school staff are co-designed with educators, then piloted in Alberta classrooms and schools. Materials for students are created (and sometimes re-created!) with input and feedback from students and families. 

Collaboration is at the heart of their latest project: The Elementary Mental Health Literacy Resource (EMHLR). This is a story about listening, learning, and innovating in support of Alberta's kids. 

Getting started

During the 2020-21 school year, the Alberta Mental Health Literacy Project put together an advisory group of mental health and education experts. Their aim was to explore the need for classroom-ready mental health resources for elementary students. Working with researchers from the University of Alberta, they reviewed teaching tools to support mental health literacy (MHL) and social emotional learning (SEL). With funding from the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation, the began developing a 4-6 MHL resource and testing its efficacy.

In partnership with school-based mental health and curriculum experts, the advisory group gathered feedback on adapting the Mental Health & High School Curriculum Guide to suit the learning needs of younger kids. Their goal was to stay true to its original structure, while incorporating age-appropriate learning activities (like hands-on lessons, videos, and role plays). They created a cast of characters to better engage grade 4-6 students in understanding mental distress, mental health problems, and mental disorders they might notice in friends or family members (like anxiety, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, depression, and learning disorders). 

Pilot research

Next, the team began out-of-province research on tools to increase teachers' comfort and confidence in talking about mental health. Then with a draft version of the EMHLR in hand, they partnered with 12 Alberta school authorities. They used both quantitative research methods (like pre-post surveys for students) and qualitative reseach methods (like feedback forms for teachers and focus groups with students) to figure out what was working well and what needed to be improved. 

All told, more than 3800 students and 70 teachers took part in the pilot research. Here's what one teacher had to say: "I loved how these videos and activities opened the door to discussions that supported students....mental health has really been an easy subject to discuss."

The classroom-ready resource

The EMHLR is now ready for use in classrooms across Alberta and Canada! It includes two downloadable books for educators: Core concepts (book 1) and Lesson plans (book 2). It also offers six interactive web-based modules:  

1. Understanding mental health
2. The stigma of mental disorders
3. Mental health and the brain
4. Common mental / neurodevelopmental disorders
5. Helping self and helping others
6. Getting mentally healthy

The EMHLR is aligned with curricula across the country, including Alberta's Physical Education and Wellness curriculum (grades 4, 5, and 6). It's free and flexible to use! There are adaptations for in-person, virtual, or hybrid delivery. 

For more information and to access the EMHLR, go to mhlcurriculum.org.

Future directions

The Alberta Mental Health Literacy Project team believes in continuous quality improvement. As the EMHLR rolls out across the province and country, they'll continue working with partners to collect and review feedback. They'll openly share the results of any further evaluations.

Going forward, the team is also strengthening their commitment to diversity and inclusion. They're collaborating with Indigenous youth and community members to co-create MHL resources that incorporate Indigenous voices, ways of knowing, and perspectives on healing. They're also expanding virtual MHL training options for people who support child and youth mental health beyond school settings. 

Feeling inspired?

For more information and tips to take action, go to:

• Build mental health literacy
• Reduce stigma