Mental Health Integrated Emergency Preparedness for the Public School Workforce

Public schools in the United States must prepare for acts of violence and other emergencies. This study focuses on the development, implementation and evaluation of a mental health integrated emergency preparedness intervention for the public-school workforce, emphasizing psychological preparedness, peer support and shared leadership. Consultation with 64 teachers and staff in six school districts and observation of lockdown drills informed the development of a half-day training implemented in one large school district. A total of 479 members of the school workforce engaged with the training in six schools, with 173 completing both Time 1 and 2 surveys. The intervention group improved on psychological preparedness, peer support, and shared leadership, while there were no changes in the matched control group. Comparing change scores between groups, psychological preparedness was the most robust outcome. This research emphasizes the value of mental health integrated approaches to emergency preparedness.