Health and Wellbeing

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Health and wellbeing is a complex concept, and it is an essential prerequisite for success for both students and adults. Schools support the health and wellbeing of their community in a variety of ways: from providing healthy food and ensuring time to play to modeling appropriate self-care and providing access to counselors.  

Here, health and well-being refers to the physical, social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health of the whole person, that when optimized through education and access to care, leads to improved quality of life and outcomes. 

Culture of Prevention

The school has a culture of prevention which provides education on health and wellbeing. 

Promoting Health & Wellbeing 

The school prioritizes and promotes health and wellbeing for all.

Screening and Assessment
for Health & Wellbeing

Schools use intentional screening methods to regularly determine the current levels of health & wellbeing in the school community. 

Data-Driven Response

Schools utilize data to drive their response and interventions. 

Practices and Procedures

Schools establish practices and procedures for accessing health and wellbeing support. 

• How do schools provide opportunities for individuals to learn about health and wellbeing? 
• What kinds of education do you provide and for whom?
• How do you support conversations around difficult/sensitive topics? 
• How do administration and leadership create systems that create balance for students and staff? 

Mindsets

• Staff believe that providing information about health is a precursor for healthy behaviors. 
• Staff understand prevention vs. intervention. 
• Staff believe that prevention is more effective than intervention on a large scale. 
• Staff believe that access matters - you have to have access to preventative care to have prevention work. 
• Staff believe that school has an important role to play in preventing health challenges and promoting well being. 

Skills and Practices

• All staff are trained in mental health literacy fundamentals. 
• Staff are trained in cultural responsivity and develop awareness of their own biases.
• Staff are trained in risk factors and protective factors that impact health and wellbeing.
• Opportunities are created within the school day for individuals to learn about health and wellbeing.  
• Staff utilize a strengths-based approach to discussing students and each other.  ("Anna's math skills are strong, but reading is hard for her." "Mr. Heath values connection time, and needs some help organizing his classroom.")
• Leadership considers and addresses systemic/contextual challenges to wellbeing.  ("Many of our students from South Elementary School are often absent. What do we know about health resources in that community?")

• How does school climate and culture prioritize health and wellbeing for all?
• How does the school promote healthy behaviors?
• How does the school connect its members to school health services? 
• How does leadership in the school model and encourage a positive work-life balance, and support wellbeing among staff?
• How does the school encourage everyone to say something when there’s a problem?  How do schools demonstrate they are good stewards of information when they are told?

Mindsets 

• Staff believe that everyone deserves health and well-being, and that health and well-being are possible for all. 
• Staff believe that educators and schools are responsible for creating spaces/places to access health supports. 
• Staff believe health is multifaceted: includes mental health, physical health, etc. 
• Staff understand that health is not equally accessible to all members of society and believe that school can promote health equity.

Skills and Practices 

• The school environment includes options for promoting health, such as healthy foods; spaces to play, socialize and exercise; access to mental health support.
• Opportunities are created so that everyone has the chance to prioritize their health and wellbeing during the school day.  
• Leadership encourages staff to engage in meaningful, preventative self-care. ("I'm glad you are taking some time for yourself tomorrow!  Good luck at the dentist!")
• Leadership develops a comprehensive set of programs, policies, benefits, and environmental supports designed to meet the health and wellbeing needs of all staff.  
• Staff and students are trained to intervene effectively when they witness harm being done to youth (e.g., Bystander/Upstander Training, RIR Protocol). 

• How does the school use screening, assessment, and intervention to support students and staff? 
• How does the school screen students for health and wellbeing strengths and challenges? 
• How does the school screen staff for health and wellbeing strengths and challenges?

Mindsets 

• School staff understand that in order to address a problem, you have to have information about the problem (measure it). 
• School staff believe that school is one of the right places to gather information about youth health and wellbeing. 

Skills and Practices

• School staff use both passive and active screening methods that screen for strengths and challenges.  
• Staff are trained to identify when students need to be referred for additional supports.  ("Rory has seemed really different since Winter Break.  I'm noticing that her head is often down during class, she's not turning in assignments, and she's arguing with me all of a sudden. I'm concerned.")  
• A school team reviews behavioral and mental health referrals regularly.  The team facilitates a warm-hand off to service providers, and the team follows up on whether a student has been able to regularly access services.  ("Ethan was referred to Mental Health Partners last month.  Do we know whether he's been able to get in and see someone? How's the waitlist over there?")
• School leadership use and review voluntary self-report data to assess overall staff wellbeing (i.e., teacher perception surveys, TLCC survey data, etc.).

• In what ways is the school approach to health and wellbeing driven by data? 
• What formal and informal measurements of student and staff health and wellbeing are collected on a regular basis?  When and how is this data reviewed and analyzed?
• How does the school use available data in order to develop and implement tier 1, tier 2, & tier 3 interventions for the student and staff populations?
• How does the school use progress monitoring data to adjust interventions?

Mindsets 

• School staff believe that in order to effectively address a problem, you need to monitor and evaluate your interventions using data.
• School staff listen to what the data says: what is the problem, where is the problem, why does the problem exist, etc. You have to go with the data.

Skills and Practices

• The leadership team reviews formal and informal measurements of student and staff health and wellbeing regularly.   
• The leadership team develops a plan to intervene at the system, group, and individual levels.
• School staff utilize evidence-based practices to support the health of students. 
• Data is collected during the implementation of evidence-based practices to monitor change and make adjustments. 

• What are the school/district policies & procedures around everyone in the school community accessing health and wellbeing support?
• How does your school/district MTSS framework reflect an awareness and responsiveness to health and wellbeing?
• How is student health and wellbeing supported in a variety of contexts and settings within the school? 
• What partnerships exist with supports outside of the school for wrap around services? 

Mindsets 

• Staff understand that anyone can benefit from additional health and wellbeing supports.
• Staff believe that schools should help connect students to health and wellbeing supports. 

Skills and Practices

• Staff are encouraged and supported when they ask for help from administration/leadership.
• Health and wellbeing are included the MTSS framework and practices.  
• All school staff are trained in mental health literacy.
• The school provides interventions for health and well-being across tier one, tier two, and tier three.
• The school establishes clear referral processes to school-based service providers and community supports, including the school nurse, counseling, and wraparound services.  
• The school provides a warm handoff when making a referral and frequently follow-up on the status of the referral to ensure services were accessed.