Mental health promotion in schools : a comprehensive theoretical framework

Recent decades have seen a rise in mental health problems among children and adolescents. Despite a proliferation of studies describing effective school-based mental health programs, reviews of current research in this field suggest a strong lack of consensus concerning the definition of school mental health and its constructs. In the present paper, we set out to fill this gap via a two-step process: first, we offer a critical overview of recent research around the concept of school mental health; second, we propose a comprehensive theoretical framework for researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers involved in mental health promotion and school prevention programs. The proposed framework comprises three key domains: the first two, cover the promotion of social and emotional learning and resilience, while the third concerns the prevention of behavioural problems.peer-reviewe

The Adolescent Brain: New Research and Its Implications for Young People Transitioning From Foster Care

Outlines the developmental process adolescents undergo to become healthy, connected, and productive adults; implications for foster care youth, who often lack the supports needed to gain self-regulation, coping, and resiliency skills; and recommendations

Capability in the digital: institutional media management and its dis/contents

This paper explores how social media spaces are occupied, utilized and negotiated by the British Military in relation to the Ministry of Defence’s concerns and conceptualizations of risk. It draws on data from the DUN Project to investigate the content and form of social media about defence through the lens of ‘capability’, a term that captures and describes the meaning behind multiple representations of the military institution. But ‘capability’ is also a term that we hijack and extend here, not only in relation to the dominant presence of ‘capability’ as a representational trope and the extent to which it is revealing of a particular management of social media spaces, but also in relation to what our research reveals for the wider digital media landscape and ‘capable’ digital methods. What emerges from our analysis is the existence of powerful, successful and critically long-standing media and reputation management strategies occurring within the techno-economic online structures where the exercising of ‘control’ over the individual – as opposed to the technology – is highly effective. These findings raise critical questions regarding the extent to which ‘control’ and management of social media – both within and beyond the defence sector – may be determined as much by cultural, social, institutional and political influence and infrastructure as the technological economies. At a key moment in social media analysis, then, when attention is turning to the affordances, criticisms and possibilities of data, our research is a pertinent reminder that we should not forget the active management of content that is being similarly, if not equally, effective

Coping with the emotional impact of bullying and cyberbullying : how research can inform practice

Despite more than two decades of anti-bullying initiatives in schools, children and young people regularly mention relationships within the peer group as the major factor that causes them to feel unsafe at school. The situation is complicated by the fact that these interpersonal safety issues are actually generated by the peer group and often in contexts that are difficult for adults to control. The recent upsurge of cyberbullying is a case in point. Teachers and parents often feel powerless to intervene in the private world that children and young people create for themselves. This article explores the strategies that are commonly recommended for dealing with cyberbullying and examines what research tells us about their effectiveness. The conclusion is that, whatever the value of technological tools for tackling cyberbullying, we cannot avoid the fact that this is also an interpersonal problem. The implication for practice is that we already know many approaches for preventing and reducing cyberbullying and should build on this knowledge rather than treating the issue as something completely new.peer-reviewe

Understanding the training and education needs of homecare workers supporting people with dementia and cancer: a systematic review of reviews

Many people with dementia, supported by family carers, prefer to live at home and may rely on homecare support services. People with dementia are also often living with multimorbidities, including cancer. The main risk factor for both cancer and dementia is age and the number of people living with dementia and cancer likely to rise. Upskilling the social care workforce to facilitate more complex care is central to national workforce strategies and challenges. Training and education development must also respond to the key requirements of a homecare workforce experiencing financial, recruitment and retention difficulties. This systematic review of reviews provides an overview of dementia and cancer training and education accessible to the homecare workforce. Findings reveal there is a diverse range of training and education available, with mixed evidence of effectiveness. Key barriers and facilitators to effective training and education are identified in order to inform future training, education and learning development for the homecare workforce supporting people with dementia and cancer

Reconceptualising workplace resilience - A cross-disciplinary perspective

Stressful situations, performance pressure, and setbacks are part of contemporary organizational life. The dynamic nature of technological advances and globalisation of business leads to tougher competitive pressures and constant change. People‘s responses to these challenging circumstances vary widely. Some bounce back and adapt to increasing challenges and adversity, others‘ healthy functioning is significantly impaired. Even though resilience is recognised as a crucial issue in the workplace, the rates of new cases of work-related stress and depression have remained broadly flat for more than 10 years. Resilience research within Applied Psychology typically focuses on the psychological domain of a person‘s functioning. This means that also resilience trainings or interventions focus on only one area. The present paper aims to build a comprehensive conceptualization of workplace resilience ultimately to assist in informing targeted intervention and in developing a model to move the research area forward as a whole. A cross-disciplinary understanding of and approach to individual resilience in the workplace would allow to better understand the mechanism of why some people bounce back from adverse events whereas others‘ well-being declines. We propose a resilience framework with antecedents considering psychological (cognitive and emotional) and physiological correlates (cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and metabolic)

Emergency Services Workforce 2030: Changing work literature review

The Changing Work Literature Review collates a high-level evidence base around nine major themes related to internal workforce management approaches and working environments of fire, emergency service, and rural land management agencies. It is an output of the Workforce 2030 project and is one of two literature reviews that summarise the research base underpinning a high-level integrative report of emerging workforce challenges and opportunities, Emergency Services Workforce 2030. Workforce 2030 aimed to highlight major trends and developments likely to impact the future workforces of emergency service organisations, and their potential implications. The starting point for the project was a question: What can research from outside the sphere of emergency management add to our knowledge of wider trends and developments likely to shape the future emergency services workforce, and their implications? The Changing Work Literature Review focuses on nine themes relevant to changes that have implications for emergency service organisation’s internal workforce management approaches and working environments: 1) Recruitment, assessment, and selection, 2) Socialisation and training, 3) Work design, 4) Diversity and inclusion, 5) Managing mental health and wellbeing, 6) Leadership, 7) Change management, 8) Managing an ageing workforce, and 9) Managing volunteer workforces

The Implication of Hyogo Framework for Action for Disaster Resilience Education

The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) is the first global strategy to provide a detailed work plan for different sectors and actors to work on disaster risk reduction. Although, the Priority Action 3 of the HFA demand for a global call to governments and others to use knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels. Evidence suggests that there are only very few effective initiatives that have been implemented by stakeholders and especially in the higher education sector where the future policy makers and practitioners are trained. This creates a significant challenge as the ten year plan of the HFA is coming to an end in 2015. This paper attempts to view the world in post-HFA and suggested a framework on mapping and integrating disaster risk reduction into formal, informal and non-formal education at policy, practice and community levels. A case study approach was used to examine how the HFA has been embraced into disaster resilience related higher education programme. The study argues that integrating disaster resilience into education is a key factor for reducing the adverse impact of future disasters. The suggested framework provides an insight into current gaps in knowledge, innovation and education and proposes solutions for effective integration of disaster resilience education at all levels