Promoting mental wellbeing in schools in Finland: translating evidence to practice

Background

School-based mental health promotion interventions are essential, as schools reach almost all children during key developmental stages, supporting long-term public mental health and wellbeing. The CONSENSUS research project (2021–2025) examined key risk and protective factors for the mental wellbeing of Finnish pupils, and implemented and evaluated a new school-based mental health promotion practice.

Methods

A longitudinal survey study was conducted to examine pupils’ mental wellbeing and related factors in grades 4–8 (N = 866), alongside with teachers (N = 53) and parents (N = 362). Based on the survey findings and a Delphi process with experts (1st N = 36, 2nd N = 14), a mental health promotion intervention was co-created together with school personnel in two primary schools. To evaluate the implementation, four semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with school personnel (N = 27).

Results

The results varied but were overall promising: participating school personnel reported increased awareness of health-promoting practices and related discussions, strong support from school management, as well as teaching materials produced for the intervention as benefits. Challenges included uneven staff engagement, time constraints, documentation burden, and limited opportunities for multiprofessional collaboration.

Conclusions

In the design and implementation of mental health promotion interventions in primary schools, clear and consistent communication between researchers and schools is essential to establish shared understanding of roles, expectations, and goals, while continued personal contact and support are critical for sustaining engagement. Health‑promoting initiatives should be embedded within the regular school timetable, alongside with protected time for developing pupils’ key mental health skills. Finally, more sustainable approaches to school-based intervention initiatives are needed, to integrate successful routines into everyday school practices.

Key messages

• As school-based interventions reach nearly all pupils, the implementation and evaluation of new evidence-based mental health promotion practices are warranted

• Sustainable and successful school-based health promotion interventions require strong user involvement, clear communication, continued support, and designated time to address key questions