| dc.description.abstract | Active Minds, a leading, nationwide nonprofit dedicated to improving adolescent and young adult mental health awareness and advocacy, endeavors to de-stigmatize discussions about mental health with its numerous programs, and is interested in further developing high school specific resources as part of their strategic plan. This capstone examines the opportunities for Active Minds to expand into the independent school market through an analysis of the tensions, pressures, and opportunities independent school administrators experience implementing mental health initiatives. The conceptual framework of institutional theory and change guided this capstone’s research questions, data collection, and analysis, and provided a lens with which to understand independent schools and administrators’ responses to a worsening mental health crisis among adolescents. This capstone utilized a case study approach and employed qualitative methods to obtain a more robust understanding of the pressures and tensions independent school administrators experience. The analysis interviews and survey data illuminated several important findings for Active Minds to inform their efforts to develop resources specific and relevant for high schools. A variety of pressures are negatively affecting student mental health in independent schools, and administrators cite rising trends of anxiety and depression as significant challenges. There are varying levels of stigma surrounding conversations about mental health in independent schools, and administrators must accrue “buy-in” across a variety of constituencies to implement mental health programming. Administrators and educators feel the urgency to respond to the mental health challenges their students face, yet a lack of time and resources often limits their efforts to develop and implement mental health programming. Administrators perceive that faculty require specific training to implement mental health programming. Independent schools are implementing an amalgam of mental health programs in a variety of educational markets and contexts, and administrators perceive mental health programming as both needed and part of the school’s value proposition to families. | en_US |
