We learned that an increase in overall wellness leads to a decrease in high-risk behavior and suicide. By addressing adolescent wellness in an effort to target the causes of suicide-related behavior, we are utilizing a primary prevention model. The Six Dimensional Wellness Model, developed by Dr. Bill Hettler, Cofounder and President of the Board of Directors of the National Wellness Institute, describes six dimensions of wellness: Social, Emotional, Physical, Occupational, Spiritual, and Intellectual.
To maintain a broad perspective of the reforms needed in order to better address adolescent wellness, we organize our thinking and assessment tool around the following three categories:
Systemic concerns address school policies and procedures related to addressing adolescent well-being, identifying whether there are, for instance, collaborative teams to support high-risk students or school-community linkages to provide student services. We look at and work with school-wide issues from a risk-reduction perspective, educate the entire school population, and build the ability of the school to support its students.
Programmatic concerns are student-focused. All our partner schools were readily able to tell us about the most worrisome issues being faced by their students – the need for self-advocacy and life skills for Independence students, and dealing with the competing demands of academic, social, and family life for St. Ignatius students. We learned that at all schools there is concern amongst students and teachers alike around family stress, sexuality issues, substance abuse, and self-destructive behaviors. Every person we have spoken to at our partner schools expressed concern about the ability of the school to adequately address these issues. Schools know that it is important to intervene early when problems are identified. Prevention research has demonstrated the effectiveness of interventions that reduce the severity of the consequences of widely experienced student stress. Each of our partner schools has counseling staff in place, but they do not have the time to sufficiently address the most worrisome concerns.
Individual concerns constitute the third level of programming in the Grace Magill Project. Every school has a number of students in crisis, and these are the students for whom immediate, individually tailored help is essential. These are the students who are engaging in high-risk and/or self-destructive behaviors such as substance abuse, self-mutilation, eating disorders and aggression; or those who suffer from depression, stress, and anxiety.
