University Hospitals recently announced it has partnered with the Willoughby-Eastlake School District to launch a pilot program designed to help teachers better identify students suffering from behavioral health issues and connect them to help.
“Supporting Teachers for Improving Students’ Mental Health” was developed by Dr. Molly McVoy, a psychiatrist who treats adolescents at UH, according to a news release.
“Almost every mental health disorder presents as trouble at school,” McVoy stated in the release. “Teachers want, so much, to do well by their students, but feel under-prepared with how to support the increasingly complex needs students have.”
Teachers are often asked to address these problems – anxiety, substance abuse disorder, mental health challenges, among others – with little to no specialized training. That’s why UH has partnered with the Willoughby-Eastlake district to launch training to help teachers better identify behavioral health issues in students and get them the help they need.
Topics include anxiety, developing resiliency, social media and how to talk to parents about behavioral health. The sessions take place during previously scheduled in-service training days required by the state.
“Willoughby-Eastlake Schools views this collaboration as an important step in expanding mental health awareness and strengthening systems of support across our schools,” Director of Pupil Services Heather Dodd stated in the release. “By engaging educators and other key staff, we believe this work has the potential to positively impact both staff preparedness and student outcomes.”
McVoy has been part of UH’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division since graduating medical school in 2005. Her mother, grandmother and great aunt were teachers, so she understands how educators are often called upon to fill a variety of roles in addition to teaching in the classroom, the release stated.
This training program was developed over several years using focus groups made up of teachers, parents and students. McVoy plans to use feedback from these initial sessions to refine the program.