“We’re not educated on that enough, and we really should be”: adolescents’ views of mental health service education

ABSTRACT

Purpose

Despite the susceptibility to the experience of mental distress during adolescence, this population often demonstrate poor help-seeking behaviours. Efforts have been made by schools to address adolescents’ knowledge around mental health; less focus has been given to addressing their knowledge of mental health services and avenues for help-seeking. This study aimed to explore adolescents’ views of mental health services education.

Methods

An interpretive descriptive design was adopted. Thirty adolescents from Ireland participated in individual interviews. Data were analysed using content analysis.

Two themes were identified

Recognizing Gaps in Knowledge about Mental Health Service Education, and Enhancing Mental Health Service Education for Young People. Participants reported gaps in their knowledge about mental health services and were uncertain how to access help. Current strategies (e.g., print media) were considered tokenistic and ineffective; instead, multimedia (film/TV) approaches were recommended.

Results

Two themes were identified: Recognizing Gaps in Knowledge about Mental HealthService Education, and Enhancing Mental Health Service Education for YoungPeople. Participants reported gaps in their knowledge about mental healthservices and were uncertain how to access help. Current strategies (e.g., print media) were considered tokenistic and ineffective; instead, multimedia (film/TV) approaches were recommended.

Conclusions

Current mental health education programmes need to expand their focus beyond social/emotional well-being, providing adolescents with the knowledge they need to access appropriate supports. Considering traditional print media was viewed as ineffective, while film/TV had an influence on perceptions of mental health services, a multimedia approach to education may be an effective way of engaging this population.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescents
• education
• help-seeking
• interpretive description
• mental health
• mental health education
• mental health services
• qualitative
• school mental health
• young people

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any , commercial or not-for-profit sectors. Open Access funding provided by the IReL Consortium.

Notes on contributors

John Goodwin

John Goodwin is a lecturer in mental health nursing and programme lead for the undergraduate mental health nursing programme, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, University College Cork, T12 AK54, Ireland; email: [email protected]. His research interests include mental health helpseeking, media depictions of mental illness, public perceptions of mental health care environments, the use of the arts and creativity in mental health, young people’s mental health, and mental health stigma. ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2044-1861

Eileen Savage

Eileen Savage is an Emeritus Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, University College Cork, T12 AK54, Ireland; email: [email protected]. Her research interests include self-management, symptom experiences and management experiences (including mental health symptoms), and integrated care. ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2403-557X

Niamh O’Brien

Niamh O’Brien is an assistant professor education, Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education, Maynooth University, School Of Education, North Campus Maynooth University, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, W23 F2H6, Ireland; email: [email protected]. Her research aims to investigate wellbeing and positive mental health intervention cross all levels of education, from primary level to higher-level education. Niamh’s work seeks to understand mental health intervention design and impactful wellbeing practices among students, teachers, and student-teachers. ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2087-814X

Áine O’Donovan

Aine O’Donovan is a Senior Lecturer in mental health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, University College Cork, T12 AK54, Ireland; email: [email protected]. Aine’s research interests focus on young people’s mental health, with a specific interest in positive mental health, depression, self-harm, and e-health. ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6377-4140