Browsing by Subject "mielenterveyden edistäminen"

In the spring of 2020, our daily lives changed as the corona pandemic became part of our everyday life. The corona pandemic has created significant societal changes, also bringing challenges to the realization of holistic well-being. Previous studies have shown how even before the global pandemic, the mental health problems of children and young people had increased significantly. The foundation of mental health is built in childhood, and the role of school institutions in promoting well-being has been widely demonstrated. The purpose of this thesis is to find out how the mental health of children and young people has been promoted in school institutions during the corona pandemic. In addition, up-to-date information on the promotion of mental health in teachers' job descriptions is added. Theoretical framework of the thesis is based on six methods of mental health promotion (Anttila et al., 2016; THL, 2021e), on the basis of which the aim is to deepen the understanding of mental health promotion and to create new current information. The thesis was carried out between May and December 2021. The material was collected during May and June with an open questionnaire from four different Facebook groups in the field of education. The sample of the thesis consisted of 41 Finnish primary and secondary school teachers, 37 of whom identified themselves as women and 4 as men. Participants ranged in age from 30 to 61, working in a total of 16 different provinces. The data analysis process was carried out during October and November by means of qualitative data-based content analysis, following a phenomenographic research design. The thesis revealed the role of interprofessional cooperation and the teacher as promoters of mental health during the corona pandemic, however, with a lack of resources in the background. Other challenges raised by the corona pandemic were also widely highlighted in the responses from both primary and secondary school teachers. In addition, the research results emphasized timely, empathic interaction that takes children and young people holistically into account. With the help of the research results, it is possible to examine the value base for promoting the well-being of the Finnish school world, at the same time drawing attention to the underlying shortcomings of our society. The research results could be applied in further research, for example, to compare the promotion of mental health in upper secondary schools and vocational schools, to examine the well-being of teachers at work, and to carry out quantitative research. This thesis creates relevant and up-to-date information for the well-being of children and young people, teachers, school communities and our society.

In the last years the concern on mental health has been on the rise, especially of children and adolescence. The covid -pandemic has increased the concern furthermore. To promote mental health in primary schools, MIELI Mental Health Finland and the City of Hämeenlinna have developed a programme on mental health skills called Hyvän mielen taitomerkki. Mental health skills include emotional, social and self-awareness skills. Primary school as an institution offers many possibilities in promoting mental health. In this thesis the views and experiences of teachers, who have used Hyvän mielen taitomerkki in their work as class teachers, was studied. Their views and experiences on mental health skills and promoting mental health skills in general and the Hyvän mielen taitomerkki were the specific interests of this thesis. The material was collected by semi-structural interviews with remote connections in January and February 2022. The sample of the thesis consisted of 5 teachers. The data analysis was carried out between April and June 2022. The analysis was based on qualitive data-driven content analysis. The objective of the study is to produce knowledge about the views and experiences on mental health skills, promoting mental health skills and using Hyvän mielen taitomerkki in promoting mental health skills of class teachers who have been using the programme in question. The thesis was carried out in co-operation with MIELI. The thesis showed that the teachers saw mental health skills to be simultaneously individual and profound humane. The teachers also saw that promoting mental health skills in school is highly dependent on school`s operational culture. Multidisciplinary between teachers, psychologists and social workers was seen as a great potential but needed more viewpoint of promoting mental health. Hyvän mielen taitomerkki was seen as a functional programme by the teachers. Their experience was that it coordinates and gives structure, deepens gradually and is open to adaptation. As conclusions can be said that mental health promotion in schools would help many skills needed in school and outside, such as self-regulation, learning and interaction with others, but needs to be part of the operational culture of the school. Hyvän mielen taitomerkki is a functional programme and can be used in many kinds of situations.