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Using health and well-being data to support improvements in mental health in schools
Welcome to the SHINE January 2023 Newsletter
Happy New Year! We are pleased to bring you the first SHINE newsletter of 2023. There are many opportunities for schools to get involved in health and wellbeing research by trialling interventions, providing feedback on resources and participating in events which we hope you will find of interest:
- SHINE annual national network conference 2023
- SHINE webinar 10: Young people & Loneliness 23rd March 2023: register
- SHINE academic paper
- Can SHINE visit your school? : SHINE Interactive Data Dashboard focus groups
- Moodhwb: young people can now trial this award-winning digital app
- Events ( MH Festival, Youth Event, British Science Week)
- Research projects for schools to get involved in
- Resources for practitioners
SHINE annual national network conference 2023
We're delighted to be returning to a face-to-face networking event for our 4th annual SHINE network conference in May 2023 on the University of Glasgow campus.
There will be a focus on evidence to intervention - as part of the networking event, we would like to feature examples of SHINE schools who have used the SHINE mental health survey and would like to showcase how the data report influenced subsequent improvement planning and intervention programmes. If your school would like to offer a case study, please contact the Network Manager :
SHINE Webinar 10
Thursday 23rd March 2023 16.00-17.00
"Young people and loneliness: what we know, and implications for schools"
Dr Emily Long and Dr Claire Goodfellow will share the very best learning and understanding of different aspects of loneliness in the 10th SHINE webinar, followed by an opportunity for Q&A and shared insights from delegates.
Registration is now open
SHINE Academic Paper
A new paper co-authored by Stephanie Chambers, Dawn Haughton, Judith Mabelis, Judith Brown and Jo Inchley,
Feasibility of using health and wellbeing data for school planning: the SHINE pilot in Scotland, was published in Health Promotion International on 28th November. This study aimed to evaluate a pilot of SHINE’s provision of school-level health and wellbeing data reports from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey and their impact on school action planning. Participants indicated that the data reports were an accessible and valuable source of local information to support the improvement agenda. SHINE’s expertise supported the lack of research capacity and strengthened health and wellbeing data literacy skills in schools.
At the time of interview in 2019/2020, only a few schools had used the reports to make changes within the school.
Formal evaluation of the SHINE Interactive Data Dashboard - can we visit your school?
The SHINE Interactive Data Dashboard aims to improve young people’s health literacy and health data skills as well as providing a vehicle for schools to start important conversations about health and wellbeing with young people. We are looking to gain feedback from schools to inform any further development required to make it more accessible and applicable for school use and young people.
We would like to visit 8 schools (4 primary and 4 secondary) to:
- carry out one face-to-face focus group (1 hour only) with up to 8 pupils from either S1 to S3 or S4 to S6.
- recruit 1 or 2 teachers to take part in an online twilight focus group (1 hour only) with teachers from other schools across Scotland.
These focus groups will be led by two researchers from the SHINE team in late February/early March. If your school has taken part or is about to take part in the SHINE Mental Health, this activity may be helpful in supporting your young people to work with HWB data as part of a whole-school approach to improvement planning.
Moodhwb: young people can now trial the award-winning digital app
MOODHWB trial
An online programme/app developed for young people with young people and families/carers to support their mood and well-being; Moodhwb was recently awarded a 'Digital Innovation Award' by the Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH).
Many young people are not getting any help and there are long waiting lists for services. This programme could provide valuable support for young people with low mood and anxiety. It uses engaging illustrations and animations to communicate information about mental health and offers personalised support, flagging the most relevant information to the individual user.
Do you know young people and parents/carers who would be interested to trial this resource and provide feedback?
Contact: Dawn.Haughton@glasgow.ac.uk
Events
- 8th Feb Now and Beyond UK Mental Health & Wellbeing Festival
- 9th Mar Stepping Up - skills for leading an independent life - youth event
- 10th Mar British Science Festival - school packs available
Get involved with the Now and Beyond charity's UK Mental Health & Wellbeing Festival for educational settings on 8th February 2023
Young people's event: Stepping up – skills for leading a healthy independent life
March 9th 2023 from 12.00 - 16.00 pm Glasgow West End
“Stepping up” is an interactive event for schools and young people aged 14 or above (S3 and up) on navigating the road to becoming an adult and starting independent life. This will include:
- a social lunch at 12 noon with talks and activities from 13.00.
- discussion with researchers, clinical psychologists and policy representatives about the mental wellbeing challenges of young people and the support available to overcome these.
- a practical wellbeing class on managing life transitions delivered by LifeLink – a mental health charity who have been supporting adults and young people across Scotland for the last 30 years.
Full information here
Want to get involved? We are looking to include short presentations by young people, such as representatives of school wellbeing groups, about what has and can help improve pupil’s emotional and mental health in schools and how to best prepare young people for independent life. If you are interested in either presenting or simply wish to attend the event, please contact Dr. Mirjam Allik (Mirjam.Allik@glasgow.ac.uk)
British Science Week: 10th -19th March 2023
The British Science Week 2023 activity packs are now live! This year’s theme is ‘Connections’, and the packs are filled with fun, easy-to-run activities for both children and adults. The MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit provided the Data Detective activity in the secondary schools pack and can’t wait for you to try it!
Research projects for schools to get involved in
Co-production of youth advocacy videos on food and e-cigarette marketing—invitation to young people to participate
(University of Glasgow Research in partnership with the Scottish Obesity Alliance funded by Cancer Research UK)
Together with members of the Scottish Obesity Alliance, researchers at Glasgow University are investigating young people’s engagement with the promotion and marketing of unhealthy foods and e-cigarettes. We are inviting young people aged 11-16 to take part in workshops, focus group discussions either in person or online via Microsoft Teams, and optional video co-production to help shape public health policy on the regulation of marketing around food and e-cigarettes. The project is split into four stages:
1. Workshops with young people to discuss their engagement with unhealthy foods and e-cigarettes as well as their marketing and promotion.
2. Young people take photos on their own time of food and e-cigarette marketing and promotions they see online and in person.
3. Focus group discussions in which young people share and describe the photos they took.
4. (optional) Small groups of young people co-produce two short films (one on food and one on e-cigarettes), featuring the ideas discussed in the workshops and focus groups.
Each young person will receive a £20 Love2Shop or Amazon gift card for each of the first three stages and an additional £40 gift card if they participate in stage 4 as a thank-you for taking part. After the project is completed, data will be analysed for writing a peer-reviewed scientific paper, and a summary of results sent back to each participant. We are also happy to send resource information back to participating schools.
The research team are happy for any SHINE members working in schools to get in touch if they would like to be involved with this exciting project. Please get in touch with Marissa at: Marissa.Smith@glasgow.ac.uk or Caroline at: Caroline.Vaczy@glasgow.ac.uk.
"New study - SOCITS: SOCial sITuational Systems approach to measuring influences on adolescent mental health.
The SOCITS project will create a new method for researchers, counsellors, teachers, and young people to do research about adolescent mental health. Looking at SOCial, sITuational Systems is what we call the SOCITS approach. SOCITS will help to understand the reasons for things like loneliness, stress and poor mental health.
The SOCITS study will involve developing health surveys that are tailored to each individual school. Rather than using generic loneliness or stress questionnaires, SOCITS will ask about the places and social situations in and around the school, and study how these situations affect mood and feelings.
SOCITS will involve research interviews with young people about their school; workshops for young people, teachers and researchers; and school surveys. In addition to receiving a report on the survey findings, each participating school will have the support of a data analyst to identify a range of options for health improvement interventions and their likely effect on mental health.
Interviews would start in early 2023 to plan for tailored school surveys in the 2023-2024 academic session. If your school would be interest in taking part, please get in touch with Claire.Goodfellow@glasgow.ac.uk
Resources for practitioners
NICE, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have released new guidelines on self-harm: assessment, management and preventing recurrence:
Click here for Key advice for schools
Click here for full NICE guidelines document
All the best,
The SHINE Team
Dawn Haughton
Schools Health and Wellbeing Improvement Research Network (SHINE) Manager
E-mail: Dawn.Haughton@glasgow.ac.uk
Web: www.gla.ac.uk/shine
Twitter: @ScotlandSHINE
