Examining the Mental Health Literacy and Challenges to Supporting Students Among Regional Philippine Teacher Education Faculty
Julius R. Satparam
Discipline: counselling, psychotherapy and occupational therapy
Abstract:
modern society. The education sector, for example, has become a common focus of mental health
studies as students and teachers are subject to frequent social interactions and academic pressure.
To better understand how equipped students and teachers are in addressing mental health-related
issues, looking at their mental health literacy is essential. In the Philippines, teachers’ mental
health literacy remains an untapped area of research yet to be explored and understood. The
current study aimed to a) examine the mental health literacy of faculty in a regional Philippine
teacher education institution and b) identify the challenges met by the faculty in providing needed
help to students with mental health-related issues. Forty-four faculty participated in the study
and answered a mental health literacy scale. The average mental health literacy score of the
overall sample was 114.45. This was found to be relatively higher than the scores of K-12 teachers
but relatively lower than those of university students, healthcare professionals, athletic coaches
and therapists, and community members. The challenges met by the respondents in providing
needed help to students include lack of self-efficacy, resistance of students, conflicting values
with the students, and lack of time. This study has provided evidence on the mental health literacy
level of regional teacher education faculty and the challenges they encounter in supporting
students; insights from it may inform mental health-related professional development initiatives.
Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.
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