Delivering A Digital Mental Health Service in Australian Secondary Schools: Understanding School Counsellors' and Parents' Experiences. (May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: O'Dea, Bridianne; King, Catherine; Achilles, Melinda R; Calear, Alison L; Subotic-Kerry, Mirjana
• Is Part Of: Health services insights. Volume 14(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-05
• Subjects: Adolescent health services -- mental health services -- school health services -- internet -- counsellors -- parents; Medical care -- Periodicals; Public health -- Periodicals; Delivery of Health Care; Quality of Health Care; Medical care; Public health; Periodicals; Fulltext; Internet Resources; Periodicals; Periodicals; 362.105
• DOI: 10.1177/11786329211017689
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1178-6329

Abstract

This study examined school counsellors' and parents' experiences of a school-based digital mental health service (Smooth Sailing) that screened students' mental health and provided automated psychological care. The Smooth Sailing service was offered to 4 secondary schools in New South Wales, Australia, for a 6-week trial period with 59 students taking part. The participating school counsellors (n = 4) completed a semi-structured interview to explore their experiences. Parents of students who had consented to being contacted (n = 37/59) were invited to complete an anonymous online survey about their child's participation. Six parents completed the survey. The school counsellors expressed overall support for the service and cited the ease of service use, its ability to identify students at-risk, and the provision of psychoeducation to students as clear benefits. They identified some barriers to the service, such as parental consent and suggested strategies to improve uptake and engagement, such as incentives, more frequent screening and use with older students. Parents also reported positive experiences with the service, expressing appreciation for mental health screening in schools and a new system to connect them and their child to school counselling services. Taken together, these findings provide initial support for delivering the Smooth Sailing service in secondary schools. Trial registration: This trial was registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ACTRN12617000977370).