The future of teaching mental health literacy in schools

Introduction Health literacy has been recognized as a key factor in determining health outcomes across the lifespan [1,2]. Young people are making choices every day that impact their health outcomes in both the short and long term, and require the information and skills to make these decisions [3]. With the majority of mental illnesses having onset in adolescence and young adulthood, youth are an obvious focus for health promotion and prevention initiatives targeting mental health literacy [4]. From the perspective of health promotion and prevention, improving mental health literacy could have significant impact in terms of empowering individuals and communities in caring for their health. Beyond knowledge acquisition and following health instructions, health literacy is viewed as a personal asset in developing the skills required to make complex decisions about health [5,6]. The fundamental assumption of most health and mental health programs, irrespective of their intended outcome or delivery mechanism, is that knowledge, skills, and awareness can be acquired and that their acquisition can lead to better health choices and positive health improvement [7,8]. Schools are where most young people spend the majority of their waking hours, and where mental health problems can have a significant negative impact on the trajectory of students if they do not receive help for mental health challenges when needed. Although schools have the potential to implement programs that reach the most numbers of youth, educators rarely have expertise in mental health. Yet due to the increasing prevalence of mental health disorders impacting school success in our youth and the poor health outcomes associated, there is growing demand for both mental health education and prevention and intervention strategies provided for youth within schools. This chapter will examine the evolving concept of health literacy and research in the need for and interventions targeting mental health literacy. The rationale for school- and youth-based approaches, as well as the utilization of technology integration and concepts of twenty first-century learning in reaching youth and educators in and out of the classroom will be discussed.