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Sharpen Minds
The Sharpen Mental Health Literacy program is an evidence-based, 5-hour training program for high school students. The course enables students to engage with over 75 peer based documentary films incorporated into comprehensive, strength-based modules covering a range of topics including: humanistic mental health literacy, stigma reduction, suicide prevention, disordered eating prevention, strategies for finding support, and "5 minute mindfulness" techniques for improving personal resilience. The asynchronous program was created by Resiliency Technologies, a public health prevention company whose founder worked for nearly 20 years leading mental health literacy and resiliency trainings in schools. The content assembled into SMHL was built in collaboration with over 25 researchers and has been created utilizing best practices (Semchuck et al, 2023) requiring assessment, community listening and stakeholder input (Gruber et al, 2023).
Resource materials include: Full program guide, manual and resource book, self-report checklist, pre/post knowledge assessments and youth-focused videos.
MODALITY: curriculum
Program Components
- Decreasing stigma
- Understanding how to foster and maintain positive mental health
- Understanding how to seek help effectively
- Understanding mental health disorders and their treatments
Program Standards
- Advocate for reducing stigma associated with emotional and mental and behavioral health
- Compare & contrast emotional, mental-behavioral illness, mental well-being and concurrent disorders
- Describe how self-harm or suicide impacts other people
- Explain how to help someone who is thinking about attempting suicide
- Identify school and community resources that can help a person with emotional, mental and behavioral health concerns