School-Link
The School-Link initiative supports staff working with children and young people with mental health concerns and intellectual or developmental disabilities. They participate in research as a part of the Kids Mental Health Research group at Kids Research based at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. The initiative has been addressing mental health in schools since 1999, with The Children’s Hospital at Westmead recognising the potential to further develop the existing School-Link Initiative to focus on students with an intellectual disability.
Objective
- Assisting in the pathways to care for students with mental health problems and disorders.
- Supporting the implementation of school based mental health promotion, prevention programs, and early intervention programs.
- The training and education needs of school counsellors.
Impact
- We are currently collaborating with Swedish researchers to make a non-commercial English version of their Special Education Questionnaire (WellSEQ). The questionnaire is specifically tailored to measure self-rated mental health and ill-health, peer relations, as well as school and family environment in adolescents with mild or moderate intellectual or developmental disability (IDD) and is administered via an interactive tablet with photographs and audio. The team has completed a translation and are currently collecting feedback from students.
Collaborators
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Hebah Saleh
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Biography
School-Link Coordinator. Psychologist at SCHN specialising in intellectual and developmental disabilities. Editor of the Journal of Mental Health of Children and Adolescents with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
Related Links
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Jodie Caruana
Email
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Biography
School-Link Coordinator. Mental Health and Intellectual Disability Hub and School-Link Coordinator Department of Psychological Medicine. She is also a social worker and has studied primary education and been part of several research projects.
Related Links