Getting started: assimilatory processes of uptake of mental health promotion and primary prevention programmes in elementary schools

Abstract

Although there is evidence that multi-systemic mental health promotion and primary prevention programmes can improve children's mental health, lack of widespread dissemination of evidence-based programmes limits their impact on population levels of health. Schools and teachers are frequent collaborators in programme development, evaluation and implementation. However, we know little about the pre-implementation processes that affect adoption (rather than implementation) of evidence-based programmes in new school sites. In this two-wave study, which spanned across one academic school year, qualitative interviews were collected from 20 school staff involved in the initiation of the WITS® Programs (The WITS® acronym stands for Walk Away, Ignore, Talk it Out and Seek Help.) for the prevention of peer victimization in rural elementary schools. These Program champions and early starters describe iterative processes of personalization that assimilated Program objectives to personal beliefs. They also worked to integrate new programme activities into ongoing teaching strategies, school programmes and school philosophies before marketing programme resources to others. Barriers to uptake are also identified.