“Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. It has intrinsic and instrumental value and is integral to our well-being” (World Health Organization).
Mental health is a critical issue for students, particularly in a post-COVID world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has made it a priority area and is encouraging all countries to do more to address this significant health issue.
SNA Toolbox utilises the Kessler Mental Distress Scale (K6) which is an internationally recognised, brief and widely used measure for assessing mental distress from the Harvard Medical School. Scoring above a threshold level on the K6 indicates that the person is suffering from mental distress.
With SNA Toolbox, schools not only gain information about the wellbeing of their students, but as a result of students' online responses to the K6, they also get immediate email notifications to school counsellors/psychologists, indicating which students need following up. Further, our platform provides a tracking system so that schools can make sure they have followed up with student and record what actions were taken. In terms of Child Safety, this is a great tool for wellbeing staff to get a quick pulse-check of student mental wellbeing and provides evidence of what the school has done to protect and enrich the wellbeing of its students.
