School Alliance for Mental Health Project: Making Mental Health & Wellness Inclusive for All

Abstract

This capstone project offers an idea for how to make mental health and wellness more inclusive to people with disabilities in school settings, with a focus on teachers and school staff. The proposed “Sam Project App” would be designed with accessibility in mind, and incorporate the unique identities of each person with an intersectional, trauma-informed lens to provide specific mental resources that are tailored to the needs of each person. I began by doing a literature review of current research and interventions concerning disabled adult educators; I found there was limited research on challenges that educators with disabilities face, which decreases visibility of role models for students, limiting exposure to employment possibilities post-graduation. I also learned that the vast majority of people with disabilities don’t have access to appropriate, adaptive mental health or wellness resources in schools today, despite comprising 29% (about 1 in 4) of the population, and that adults with disabilities experience more mentally unhealthy days, while not having adequate support. As a result of this, disabled people experience higher rates of unemployment and poverty, make less money, and poorer quality of life. Then I led my own research study, and I invited adults who work in any capacity in a school setting to complete a survey for my research, describing the nature of their disability, how it impacts their ability to do their job, how it impacts their mental health, and gathered feedback on what they would like to see in their school to improve working conditions. If the participant didn’t identify as having a disability, I asked for their observations of how people with disabilities (staff and students) were treated in their school. A few ideas that emerged from the data and informed how to measure the effectiveness of the created intervention were for schools to be more proactive about addressing stigma surrounding mental health and disabilities. For example, schools can provide ongoing monthly anti-stigma training and literacy to address topics such as the social model of disability, highlighting intersectionality, and integrated mental health education. They can promote more inclusive visibility, ensuring 1-3 images of people with disabilities are featured in all school-based images and promotional materials. Additionally, schools can do bi-annual evaluation, reporting, and modifying of physical/digital accessibility, helping to ensure ADA compliance. The goal of my capstone was to help increase awareness, and propose a way to help increase accessibility for people with disabilities seeking mental health support while working in schools, or other high-stress environments. As stated by Dr. Bruce Perry, “A dysregulated adult cannot regulate a child.” Increased accessibility to mental health supports helps support the educator’s ability to maintain employment, increase job satisfaction, and performance. People are our best resource, and it is imperative that we take better care of them by providing appropriate mental health and wellbeing support so they can be their best selves. Increased visibility of these resources helps to reduce stigma surrounding both disability and mental health, and provides more quality education and positive role models for students.