WeCARE Intervention Program: An Online Multilevel International Program for Promoting Well-Being and Resilience in the School Community during Unsettling Times

Chryse Hatzichristou,Theodora Yfanti,Aikaterini Lampropoulou,Panayiotis Lianos,Danai Athanasiou

doi:10.12973/ejper.4.1.51

Abstract

<p style="text-align: justify;">During the second decade of the 21st century families and schools world-wide have been affected by several critical events, with economic recession, the refugee crisis, and lately the COVID-19 pandemic being the most prominent. Pertaining to the school community (students, educators, administration, parents, school personnel etc.), evidence-based interventions for improving mental health and supporting psychosocial adjustment are necessary. In this paper the development, implementation, and evaluation of the international WeCARE (We Connect, Accept, Respect, Empower) program, an online multilevel intervention for promoting well-being and resilience in the school community during unsettling times, is presented. The Program has a multicultural perspective and provides the opportunity to students from different countries to cooperate and develop multicultural skills. The intervention is based on a conceptual model for enhancing positive development, resilience, social and emotional skills, and competence. The interventions were implemented on individual and system levels over four consecutive years, including web-based teachers’ training and supervision, seminars for parents, and classroom implementation. Furthermore, collaboration amongst schools and educational settings was highlighted, in the form of networking at national and international level. Based on the evaluation results, the necessity for further development and implementation of programs for the promotion of resilience and well-being during unsettling times is discussed.</p>

Highlights

During the last few decades of the 20th century there have been many changes worldwide at a social, political and economic level
Teachers were mainly concerned at a personal level with: (a) financial issues; (b) worries about the well-being of their own family; (c) living conditions and quality of life; (d) unpleasant feelings they experience due to the economic crisis; (e) worries about their personal well-being; and (f) social problems, such as social changes, starvation-deprivation-impoverishment of people, lack of solidarity
It should be noted that the difficulties experienced by school communities related to the economic recession -which is still an issue in Greece- were further escalated with the occurrence of additional adversities such as the refugee influx, the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters (Hatzichristou, Lianos et al 2019)

Summary

Introduction

During the last few decades of the 20th century there have been many changes worldwide at a social, political and economic level. From a social justice perspective, to promote change in favor of the underprivileged and deprived members of the school community and to develop best practices in order to counterbalance the possible negative effects of a constantly changing world (Hatzichristou, Lampropoulou et al, 2019; Shriberg et al, 2013). This need has been even more intense in the face of various crisis events that have occurred during the last decade affecting school communities, such as the economic recession, refugee influx, natural disasters, and pandemics. The need to develop and implement intervention programs for supporting school communities became a priority

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