ORGANIZING MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN SCHOOLS: ASSESSING TEACHERS ROLES

Approximately 21% of children and adolescents experience signs and symptoms of aDSM-1V disorder during the course of a school year, yet fewer than 20% of those needing mental health services actually receive any. Research suggests that schools and teachers can help promote mental health, delect children at risk, and refer them for psychiatric assistance. This study aims to determine the effects of an educational intervention on teacher's knowledge, attitude, self-reliance and practice.This study was carried out in 24 State-run elementary schools in the city of Khorramabadin Lorestan province. Iran, during the academic years 2001 - 3.Of the 64 teachers initially selected, 57 agreed to participate in the study; 27 of these were placed in the intervention group and the remaining 30 in the control group.The intervention group attended a 3-day workshop. Self- administered questionnaireswere filled before and after the workshop, and at the end of the project data were collected from teachers and students. Statistical analysis was done by the SPSS package, using mainly nonparametric tests.49% of the participants were men, 42% had a high school diploma and others haduniversity degrees. Findings showed significant improvements in teacher's knowledge.attitude, and practice in the intervention group. No such improvement was observed incontrols. Teachers in the intervention group were able to identify and refer 106 suspectedcases, of whom 79 had a mental disorder confirmed by a psychiatrist. Within the sameperiod, only 2 cases had been referred by the control group. Student's knowledge, themain criteria of teacher's practice in mental health education, had significantly improvedin the intervention but not in the control group. Results suggest that female teachers hadhigher KAP levels than their male colleagues.The study confirms that trained teachers have the capabilities required for participating inSchool - Based Mental Health Services. It also appears that schools are indeed a crucialplace for helping children in need of mental health services.