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Mental health in elementary schools
Promoting positive mental health with the program Passeport: S'équiper pour la vie (Passport: Skills for life)
by Lorraine Millette (02/10/2014)
Developed by a multidisciplinary team under the supervision of Professor Brian Mishara from the Université du Québec à Montréal and funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada, the mental health promotion program Passeport: S'équiper pour la vie (Passport: Skills for life) promotes children's emotional well-being. More specifically, it encourages children to identify and assess coping strategies themselves in order to deal with new situations and everyday challenges. Studies show that early development of coping skills helps the child overcome challenges encountered during adolescence and adulthood.
Several mental health problems begin at an early age, influencing mental health throughout adulthood. Many experts working in mental health prevention and promotion maintain that school is the best place to implement programs promoting mental health. It is a place where children spend a considerable amount of time, making it easy to reach all children, including those living in vulnerable conditions. Since the 90s, there has been a significant increase in the number of mental health promotion and prevention (MHPP) programs and interventions in schools. Scientific research has shown the effective impact such programs have on children.