Challenges faced by schools

1 An overwhelming range of options

Schools often do not know where to start when looking for a suitable intervention. There are databases, for example, where schools can browse the wide range of interventions available. The database of Effective Youth Interventions maintained by the Netherlands Youth Institute alone contains more than 80 interventions that schools can use. However, the range is fragmented. There are all kinds of different providers, and the available interventions are spread across nearly 40 different themes, such as stress, positive development, well-being, classroom climate, social skills and divorce. In addition, quite a few interventions are available that are not included in the databases. These include, for example, teaching materials developed by schools themselves or by other parties such as municipal public health services. An overwhelming range of options, in other words.

2 Uncertainty about quality

There is also uncertainty about quality. In the databases, for example, it is clearly indicated to what extent an intervention is evidence-based and how effective it is. But much less is known about interventions that are not included in the databases. The question schools often ask—‘Is this a good intervention?’—therefore regularly remains unanswered. Greater insight into active ingredients could help here. Active ingredients are essential components that ensure an intervention works. If these elements are missing, the intervention does not work or is less effective. Many interventions contain the same ingredients and therefore share the same active ingredients. Insight into these elements contributes to identifying the specific areas of application and limitations of an intervention. Several projects have now been initiated and completed through ZonMw to investigate active ingredients in interventions aimed at increasing young people’s well-being.

3 Difficulty finding the right match

It is not only the large number of interventions and the sometimes unclear quality of an intervention that make it difficult to choose. The lack of distinction between interventions and integrated approaches also hinders the search for the right match. Whereas an intervention often consists of a short series of lessons for students, an integrated approach is broader. Within an integrated approach, a long-term plan is developed based on a shared vision. Various types of activities take place at multiple levels within and around the school. These may involve the classroom and school climate, the school team, the home environment, care partners and the municipality. The distinction between an intervention and an integrated approach is important for schools: a ‘stand-alone’ intervention can be implemented within a (broader) integrated approach. There is a risk that a single intervention will address only part of the problem or that its effect will fade after some time. That is why it should be properly embedded within a broader approach. To support schools in choosing an intervention within an integrated approach, the Regional Knowledge Workshop for Youth and Family Central is developing a resource over the coming year to support schools in making this choice.

Challenges faced by intervention developers

There are quite a few intervention developers who have funding to develop a new intervention but no funding to implement it sustainably and further develop it. In addition, intervention developers need sufficient funding to invest in long-term impact research. Such research can be used to assess the effects of interventions and adapt them where necessary. Here too, there is often no budget or too little budget available. Intervention developers then turn to knowledge institutes such as the Trimbos Institute, which also lack a financial structure for implementing interventions sustainably. The result? Outdated interventions that, over time, no longer meet the needs of practice.

Challenges faced by municipalities

Municipalities are encouraged to use recognised interventions—in other words, well-substantiated and effective interventions from a database. However, practice shows that they encounter interventions that are not included in a database and about whose evidence base too little is known. Municipalities therefore face the same challenges as schools. A decision-support tool is currently being developed for municipalities to help them weigh up matters relating to interventions.

Solutions

The Trimbos Institute concludes that all parties face obstacles. According to the Trimbos Institute, the intervention landscape therefore needs the following:

1 A mandated coordinator who can provide direction

Responsibility for coordination is currently assigned nowhere, creating the risk that the wheel will often be reinvented. This is a concern in an educational context characterised by high workloads and persistent teacher shortages. Coordinating the intervention landscape would enable scarce resources to be used more efficiently.

2 A clear vision to set direction and use financial resources efficiently

A vision is needed to set direction and use financial resources efficiently. Consider questions such as: When do we consider there to be enough interventions on a particular theme? Who decides which themes do not require or qualify for additional interventions? And how do we ensure that scientific knowledge about active ingredients is incorporated into interventions? Various knowledge institutes can contribute to developing the vision and intervention landscape, each from the perspective of its own expertise.

3 Clear agreements about roles and responsibilities

Which organisation has which role, who owns which component, and what resources are needed for this? What, for example, is the role of the government, knowledge institutes, universities and grant providers in the intervention landscape?

Conclusion

The blog concludes with the hope:

  • that, once these changes to the intervention landscape have been implemented, schools will be able to easily find suitable interventions relating to well-being,
  • that the right interventions will be developed and further developed by researchers and intervention developers,
  • and that municipalities will know which interventions they can invest in most effectively.

Ultimately, this should contribute to the end goal: ensuring the well-being of our young people.

Source: Trimbos Institute.