Primary school teachers' role in the promotion of mental health among school children in Zomba, Malawi
The purpose of this study was to identify the role of primary school teachers’ in the promotion mental health among school children within Zomba district. A school is one of the settings where mental health of the children should be promoted through intervention of teachers as primary caretakers of...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Online Access: | http://nkhokwe.kuhes.ac.mw:8080/handle/20.500.12845/277 |
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Add Tag | Summary: | The purpose of this study was to identify the role of primary school teachers’ in the promotion mental health among school children within Zomba district. A school is one of the settings where mental health of the children should be promoted through intervention of teachers as primary caretakers of the children at school. Good mental health among children increases their ability to live productive lives. The study followed a quantitative approach and it was a cross sectional study. The study was carried out in 32 primary schools in Zomba district. The study population included 300 primary school teachers (N=300) with more than six months’ work experience following stratified random sampling technique. Consent was sought from all study participants. Data was analyzed using Social Package for Statistical Science (SPSS) version 20.0. The study results have shown that primary school teachers have little knowledge on mental health promotion (35.4%, n = 106 strongly disagreed and 49.2%, n = 147disagreed with the true definition of mental health). Teachers reported that they promote mental health through good teacher – child relationship and encouraging child participation during physical activities (22.0%, n = 66), provision of positive feedback during classroom activities; 20.3% (n = 61), fostering anti-bullying behavioral activities 4.0% (n = 12); conducting other mental health activities; 1.3% (n = 4) while 30.3% (n = 91) did not respond to the question. Teachers are not aware of screening tools for mental health problems among school children and bullying is the most common factor within school environment that acts as a risk factor for mental health problems. Therefore, there is need for primary school teachers’ training on mental health promotion and screening tools for mental health problems among school children. |
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