A co-designed health education model to improve outcomes for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties: a study of acceptability, feasibility and impacts

Objective: To assess the acceptability and impacts of a co-designed health education model aiming to improve outcomes for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Design: Qualitative focus group study.

Setting: Six primary schools from metropolitan and rural settings in the state of Victoria, Australia.

Participants: 36 educators who engaged with the intervention between July and December 2021.

Intervention: Co-designed community of practice, led by a paediatrician, with fortnightly tailored case-based discussions aiming to build educator capacity to identify and support children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Main outcome measures: At the completion of the intervention, all educators were invited to participate in focus groups with their school group. The lead author facilitated the groups. Semistructured questions guided the sessions focusing on the motivation of participants, their experience of the intervention, its impact on their work and suggestions for possible improvements and impact upon their own well-being. Sessions were audio recorded, and field notes were taken by the facilitator. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was carried out to evaluate the data collected.

Results: 36 of 46 educators completed six focus groups (one per school). Participants were highly motivated due to the mental health needs of their students. Participants experienced the intervention as stimulating and providing practical strategies. Participants discussed the positive impact it had on their capacity to support children with emotional and behavioural difficulties as well as their own well-being.

Conclusions: The intervention is highly acceptable to educators, and evaluating this intervention with a larger sample will inform expansion.