PHC 6534 - Grant Proposal: Fighting the Challenges and Trauma That Mental Health Causes In Tennessee Households

Overview/Summary:

This grant optimizes the collaboration and engagement in partnerships with Tennessee’s Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services and Tennessee’s Department of Education in the fight against household challenges with mental health and the trauma it can cause children growing up.

For many years mental health has been a delicate topic to speak about and discuss freely in the United States. Many adults do not feel comfortable speaking about their personal mental health due to the heavy stigma that society has put on it. This program would allow Tennessee schools to have increased access to resources and mental health services so that mental health impacts can be better addressed and handled outside of the household. The program would allow Tennessee schools to become focal points in their communities so that they can help lessen the burden and trauma mental health has on these children and adolescents. With increased access to mental health resources and healthcare, a decrease in worsening health outcomes and suicides will begin to be seen.

The program will conduct assessments to provide project team members with the high-risk school districts that will be prioritized for the following project grant activities to come. The grant will utilize requested funds so Tennessee schools can hire clinical psychologists for school districts. That being said, quarterly data updates from school districts will be done in order to see how many visits/encounters students have had with the psychologists. The grant will also utilize funding to provide school districts with monetary incentives so that mental health discussions are placed into their curriculum. Quarterly data updates will be completed here as well to see how many schools have begun discussions and started to erase the stigma of mental health and trauma that they cause.

Public Health Framework:

The project will utilize public health framework to prevent or lessen the health effects that mental health struggles in households with adolescents and children. Just by using this public health framework approach we will be able to “bring multiple public health sectors to the table”¹. The project has a multidisciplinary approach with the use of both secondary prevention for the “reducing the impact” as well as tertiary prevention for “improvement to quality of life”¹. This is simply due to the target population being high-risk adolescents and children that have been or have potential to be exposed to mental health struggles in their households. Project activities are aimed to prevent these exposures in these high-risk group as well lessening the trauma and health-related effects they could cause. With Tennessee schools getting equipped with more resources and education to start acting on the adolescents and children that have been exposed, treatment on the outcomes can be addressed sooner. The same can be said to come from the additional resources and education when being able to improve the quality of life despite the exposures happening all together.

Levels of Social-Ecological Model:

This project will utilize McElroy’s social ecological model². All of the levels from McElroy’s model will be of focus due to all levels being impacted by the project goals and anticipated outcomes. The policy level will be addressed through public policy that will be changed in order for Tennessee’s Department of Education to change the state’s curriculum and to receive additional funding necessary for completion of the project and continuation thereafter. The community level will be addressed through the atmosphere that the project aims to change around mental health². The institutional level will be addressed in Tennessee’s schools across the state receiving access to the resources and treatment for the project’s activities². The interpersonal level will be addressed through the mental health social networks and mental health social support system the project creates with the schools’ faculty/staff and students². Then finally, the intrapersonal level will be addressed in two separate ways: 1) the treatment with the necessary services that individuals suffering with mental health exposure needs; and 2) the resources and peer support the project creates from making school curriculum talk about mental health in a positive light².

We anticipate through the utilization of all levels of the social ecological model, project outcomes will be meeting the project initial goals.

Trauma-Informed Principles:

This project will use SAMSHA’s trauma-informed principles in both development and implementation of the program³. The project will build in the principles in so that individuals have the most effective approach to the resources and treatment that the program creates.

The principle of safety will be utilized by ensuring all Tennessee’s schools have educated their faculty and staff on recognizing individuals suffering from mental health exposure trauma and how to respond effectively and accordingly³. The principle of trustworthiness and transparency will be utilized by ensuring that all of the project data being collected will be shared openly and honestly with all those involved in the program³.  The principle of peer support and mutual self-help will be utilized in project activities so that classrooms create social safe places to speak and discuss the struggles that mental health has on individuals and encourage those struggling with mental health exposures to seek help³. The principle of collaboration and mutuality will be utilized in the trainings and education sessions that school faculty and staff will go through prior to implementation and annually thereafter³. Faculty and staff will then know how you are to approach trauma-informed care. The final principle that will be utilized is through empowerment, voice and choice³. This principle will be ensured by the way that program creates healthy classroom environments so that mental health is something each student and teacher can discussing openly and honestly amongst the class or in a private setting³. SAMSHA has shown that from creating an environment like this, those who identify someone suffering will feel empowered to seek or get the help and treatment that they need⁷.

Resource(s):

1. Feuer-Edwards, A., O’Brien, C., O’Connor, S. (2018). Trauma-Informed Philanthropy – A Funder’s Resource Guide for Supporting Trauma-Informed Practice in the Delaware Valley. Philanthropy Network.  
2. McLeroy, K. R., Bibeau, D., Steckler, A., & Glanz, K. (1988). An ecological perspective on health promotion programs. Health education quarterly, 15(4), 351–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019818801500401.
3. SAMSHA’s Trauma and Justice Strategic Initiative (July 2014). SAMSHA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach. Dept of Health and Human Services.

Closing:

Please see the attached document for the full request for proposal.