Addressing Gaps in Pediatric Mental Healthcare by Removing Barriers: A School‐Based Integrated Model for Group Art Therapy

ABSTRACT

In the fall of 2021, experts declared a national emergency in children's mental health, urging organizations to put in place school‐based mental health care services to reduce barriers and increase access to care. This paper describes implementation and acceptability of an innovative school‐based model to deliver group art therapy that is integrated into the school's Muti‐Tiered System of Supports, and changes in student social‐emotional competencies that occurred in association with participation. The 7‐week pilot was implemented in three successive semesters, serving 280 elementary students. Guardians completed Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQ) before and after the intervention to describe changes in student social‐emotional competencies. SDQ data suggest improvement in internalizing symptoms amongst participants (n = 17, mean decrease in 1.7 points [95% CI: 0.2–3.2]; p = 0.0314). Guardians surveyed (n = 12) strongly agreed that art therapy programs should be continued in the school and that the art therapy process gave their child an alternative form of safe expression [4.88 and 4.75 out of 5 (SD = 0.14 and 0.29), respectively]. All students completed the program. Cost was $170.00 per child. This school‐based group art therapy model was found feasible and acceptable, and if scaled, can impact a large population of children with barriers to mental healthcare access.