Experiences of school teachers on participation in a brief school mental health program: a qualitative inquiry

Abstract

AbstractBackground: School mental health programs (SMHPs) aim to strengthen school teachers’ understanding about issues related to child and adolescent mental health and their management. Many studies have looked at outcomes of such programs quantitatively. However, there is a lack of studies on the qualitative effects of SMHPs. With this in mind, the aim was to explore and evaluate the experiences of school teachers in a corporate social responsibility (CSR) project who participated in a brief SMHP in the suburbs of Bangalore City in India. Materials and methods: Twenty-two school teachers of a CSR project participated in this brief one-day SMHP. The program aimed to orient the teachers about common child and adolescent psychiatric disorders. Data were collected through a semi-structured open-ended questionnaire and by narrative inquiry. The data analysis adopted a general inductive approach. Results: From the qualitative data analysis, five overarching themes have emerged: (i) positive experience of bei...