From its conceptual background MindMatters is based on the good and healthy school approach and therefore aims at the promotion of educational quality of schools through mental health interventions. MindMatters offers two kinds of materials: booklets for school development as well as curriculum booklets. The school development related material deals with topics such as the school management and networking, whereas the curriculum related material is more focused on individual related topics such the establishment of friendships or coping with stress, mobbing etc. At present 3 booklets on school development and 5 curriculum booklets exist, which can be applied across different secondary school types.
Currently the MindMatters will be expanded through the development of materials for primary schools. Further materials are in the planning; currently existing materials were updated periodically.

Aims

• advancement in school quality through the development of a school culture
• advancement in working conditions and health of teachers through social climate on a school and class level
• improvement in conditions for learning and health through strengthening of pupils resilience and the mediation of knowledge und skills relating to the perception of stress, mental illness, loss and grief, mobbing and harassment and other (school) demands
• improvement of education processes and outcomes through health interventions

Milestones

1. Adaptation of the Australian MindMatters version (translation & adaptation of the material)
2. Pilot testing of the German language adaptation in Germany and Switzerland (February 2004 to July 2005) through external evaluation (see results)
3. Development of comprehensive project website
4. Nomination for the first German prevention award
5. Dissemination of all materials over a) further education for teachers and multipliers and b) national and international publications and scientific presentations.
6. Update of existing material and development of new material for primary schools
7. Development of new concepts for dissemination/ planning of further material and evaluation concepts

Results

Concept and sample:
| Bild:
Website screenshot | The evaluation of the pilot project was realized by the University of Osnabrueck. For this purpose a tailored evaluation concept was developed for German and Swiss school conditions, which was based on a formative and summative evaluation. The summative evaluation comprises a questionnaire based pre/post design of teachers (n=633) and pupils (n=4019). Specifically developed instruments assessed different aspects of mental health. Concerning the formative evaluation curricular material was assessed by teachers (n=37) and pupils (n=435). Moreover interviews with school heads (n=14) and teachers (n=14) was conducted to assess the process of implementation in the school.

Results of the summative evaluation
With regard to teachers the following positive changes can be reported:

• Better congruence of common beliefs within the teaching body
• Better evaluation of school quality
• Better evaluation of the relation to the school head
• Better evaluation of basic conditions relating ones own occupational activity
• Advancement of communication within groups
• Reduction of work related strains
  Lesser degree of performance reduction (a subscale of the Maslach-Burnout-Inventory)

With regard to pupils, whose teachers had attend at a school specific further education on the “Mobbing” topic, the following changes can be reported: school is perceived to a greater degree as a place:

• In which clear rules about behavioural norms exist
• Which contributes to learning process how to handle with conflicts
• In which supportive teachers exist.

This pupils also report a lesser extent of:

• Psycho-vegetative disorders (e.g. sickness, emesis)
• Negative mood (i.e. they feel morose more seldom)
• School stress (e.g. inner agitation/ nervousness)
• mental strains through school (e.g. to feel blue)

The material for primary schools will be evaluated in 2009/ 2010.

Contact information
Prof. Dr. Peter Paulus (Projektleitung)
Leuphana Universität Lüneburg
Zentrum für Angewandte Gesundheitswissenschaften (ZAG)
Wilschenbrucher Weg 84a
21335 Lüneburg

| Bild: | +49 4131/ 677 1702

| Bild: | paulus@uni.leuphana.de

Website: www.mindmatters-schule.de