(For a summary of this review, go to: Summary of Research Evidence Supporting the Need for Mental Health Resources

Introduction

“Unprecedented” is a tired word in 2020. However, it is hard to imagine what part of life has not been impacted by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact on educational institutions has been profound. Schools are an essential part of the social fabric of a community, connecting the resources of that community and the people who live in it and access it.  The importance of school to our well-being has been deeply evidenced. Anecdotally, we know how difficult it has been to try to maintain human connection online. Like an actor breaking the fourth wall in a play, we have spoken directly to families in their own homes from our homes. Private spaces had to be shared in unconventional circumstances. A digital window into each other’s lives and homes has been smashed open for an educational purpose on a genuinely unprecedented scale. Unfortunately, we could have been better prepared.

A Pattern of Unfortunate Ignorance

The literature reviewed for this project exposes our limited prior understanding of the impacts of pandemic response on schools as evidenced by two previous outbreaks, the  severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) from 2002-2004, and the H1N1pdm outbreak in 2009. Studies of the SARS outbreak that impacted Ontario and BC, cite the lack of data gathered on stress and anxiety levels caused by quarantine.  SARS was successfully contained in Canada and around the globe through the use of widespread quarantine measures (Hawryluk et al, 2004).  The level of quarantine measures needed to achieve this had not been used for several decades (Center for Disease Control, 2003).

However, an opportunity was lost in the experience with SARS. Hawrylik states that “Little, if any, analysis has focused on the effect of quarantine on the well-being of the quarantined person. To our knowledge, a consideration of the adverse effects of quarantine, including psychological effects, has not previously been systematically attempted” (Hawryluk et al, 2004. P. 1210). The opportunity was lost yet again during the H1N1pdm outbreak in 2009, causing schools to close for short periods of time, too (Miller 2010). Again we learned little. To be sure, our tendency to react to a pandemic rather than be proactive could be traced back to the Black Plague that was preceded by a plague of equal proportions during ancient Greece. The tangibility of tragedies of one generation are often lost on the next generation. If society seems under-prepared for a pandemic response by schools, teachers, students and their families, these missed opportunities help to explain why.

Psycho-social Effects of Closing Schools

Closing schools is never an easy decision. Closures impact children most directly, everything from their education to the increased likelihood of children engaging in risky behaviours while unattended (Brooks et al, 2020). Furthermore, parents overestimation of their child’s ability to self-care is associated with increased adverse peer pressure, underage drinking, and drug use (Cauchemez et al, 2009).  The social justice and ethical implications are many, too. For example, rapidly halting services like school breakfast and lunch programs impacts vulnerable children and families first and foremost. The “secondary economic and social effects of school closures are potentially very large”  (Brooks et al, 2020. p. 1).  Again, low socio-economic households feel the economic impact of prolonged closures first and most (Cauchemez et al, 2009). No research is needed to anticipate the stress and anxiety that is caused when schools close.

While there is mounting research on the mental health and wellness challenges for students, teachers, and school communities in general (Daniel, 2020) (Majowicz, 2020) (McLean et al, 2017), the research into stressors on teachers specifically during COVID-19 is only beginning to emerge. Many of these more general-topically published studies are coming out of China as that country has been dealing with the pandemic for the longest time, shedding light on some broader societal implications.

The Risk of Misinformation & the Exacerbation of Stress

Further to the immediacy of the pandemic in relation to research and findings is the need to step up education and communication to the public from reliable authorities. These authorities such as government health ministries rely upon research and data collection that is up-to-date and apt to change, which, when reinterpreted by the general public, can lead to a secondary need for authorities to combat misinformation (McCutcheon et al. 2020). This heightens the level of stress and anxiety around a disaster such as the COVID-19 pandemic for everyone, including teachers, and requires an increase for mental health services to reflect such demand. Existing policies such as reporting to local Joint Occupational Health & Safety Committees, school or district counselling services, or union stewards or representatives have been emphasized during the pandemic by education stakeholders such as the Government of British Columbia.

In Closing

Neither of us are medical professionals, nor do we profess to be. However, we have now experienced this anxiety and stress ourselves, and in our students and their families. The resources we have gathered for the Remote Teaching Resources blog site are our small attempt to help you maintain your own personal wellness as well as help your students and families. The podcast resource “Changes and New Priorities in Education During COVID-19” (listen to it below)

is intended to help re-frame mental health resources developed directly for teachers and their school communities. During the rapidly evolving circumstances surrounding COVID-19. We hope the Mental Health Resources curated for you will bring some assurance toward a safe return to school in the fall with certainty that help will always be close at hand.

Co-authored by Lawrence Weston (with gratitude)

 

References

Brooks, S. K., Smith, L. E., Webster, R. K., Weston, D., Woodland, L., Hall, I., & Rubin, G. J. (2020). The impact of unplanned school closure on children’s social contact: rapid evidence review. Eurosurveillance, 25(13), 2000188.

Cauchemez, S., Ferguson, N. M., Wachtel, C., Tegnell, A., Saour, G., Duncan, B., & Nicoll, A. (2009). Closure of schools during an influenza pandemic. The Lancet infectious diseases, 9(8), 473-481.

Center for Disease Control, Rothstein, M. A., Alcalde, M. G., Elster, N. R., Majumder, M. A., Palmer, L. I., … & Hoffman, R. E. (2003). Quarantine and isolation: Lessons learned from SARS. University of Louisville School of Medicine, Institute for Bioethics, Health Policy and Law.

Daniel, Sir J. (2020). Education and the COVID-19 pandemic. Prospects, Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-020-09464-3

Hawryluck, Laura, Wayne L. Gold, Susan Robinson, Stephen Pogorski, Sandro Galea, and Rima Styra. “SARS control and psychological effects of quarantine, Toronto, Canada.” Emerging infectious diseases 10, no. 7 (2004): 1206.

Majowicz, S. E. (2020). What might the future bring? COVID-19 planning considerations for faculty and universities. Epidemiology & Infection, Cambridge University Press, 148(e92). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268820000898

McLean, L., Abry, A., Taylor, M., Jimenez, M., Granger, K. (2017). Teachers’ mental health and perceptions of school climate across the transition from training to teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 65, pp.230-240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.03.018

McCutcheon, V. E., Grant, J. B., & Schulenberg, S. E. (2020). Answering the call of COVID-19: An integrated mental health response considering education, training, research, and service. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1), S284-S286. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tra0000896

Miller, J. C., Danon, L., O’Hagan, J. J., Goldstein, E., Lajous, M., & Lipsitch, M. (2010). Student behavior during a school closure caused by pandemic influenza A/H1N1. PloS one, 5(5), e10425.