Efficacy and Effectiveness of Universal School-Based Wellbeing Interventions in Australia: A Systematic Review

Efficacy and Effectiveness of Universal School-Based Wellbeing Interventions in Australia: A Systematic Review

Authors
Gunawardena, H. Voukelatos, A. Nair, S. Cross, S. Hickie, I. B.
Year
2023
Journal
International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health [Electronic Resource]
Volume
20
Pages
02
The World Health Organisation defines health in terms of wellbeing, and wellbeing has become both a construct and a measure of impact in early intervention and prevention programs in schools. In Australia, schools report on their wellbeing initiatives and there is a plethora of government-funded wellbeing programs already in place in schools. However, education systems and stakeholders worldwide are facing significant challenges with mixed evaluation results of program impact and intervention effect. To better support students, schools, school-based healthcare workers, and community, it is important to know about the effectiveness of school-based programs; yet in the last decade, there has been no national appraisal of these programs in Australia. This systematic review aims to report on the effectiveness of Australian school-based wellbeing programs through a search of 13 databases. Out of 2888 articles, 29 met inclusion criteria. The results found that seventeen interventions comprising 80% of the total number of participants reported no statistically significant intervention effect on wellbeing outcomes. We argue that supporting wellbeing through robust program intervention is important as wellbeing presents both an indication of later onset of more serious mental health issues, and an opportunity for early intervention to break the trajectory leading to full disorder.

Oversett med Google Translate
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Type of intervention

Preventive- and Promotive Health Interventions

Topic

Development and Life Coping Skills

Well-being

Intervention

The organization of interventions

Age group

School Aged Children (6-12 years)

Adolescents (13-18 years)

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