Mental Health Emergency Preparedness for the School Workforce
An intervention to increase psychological preparedness for teachers, staff and leadership in pre-K-8 schools during emergencies.
About the study
The research project involved co-creation, implementation and evaluation of a psychological preparedness training for the public-school workforce, complimenting their current emergency preparedness plans and drills. The project also included shared leadership and peer support components, encouraging teachers to support one another and engage with emergency preparedness planning and drills. We worked with six schools from Cherry Creek School District with about 300 school-based personnel. Now that the study is complete, we aim to offer this intervention to other school districts throughout the region.
Thanks to their dedication to workplace health, safety, and well-being through this project, Cherry Creek School District's Safety and Security Team was awarded the Community Impact Award for the Center's 2023 Partner Awards.
This training will make employees feel more psychologically prepared for an emergency, and will increase peer support related to emergency preparedness.
— Courtney Welton-Mitchell PhD, MA Clinical Assistant Professor
New Course: Creating a Culture of Support: Enhancing Staff Resilience in Emergency Situations
In this 1.5 hour webinar, presenters discuss improving systems around emergency drills through tailored training, gathering staff feedback, and identifying local resources. Participants will learn to customize training for their districts, lead effective feedback sessions, and implement changes based on staff input.
Learning Objectives
- Describe an approach for integrating mental health into district/school emergency preparedness.
- Adapt the training to fit your local school district.
- Identify key school safety and mental health partners within the district and community to deliver the training.
- Prepare participants to facilitate the training for district staff.
Presenters
- Natalie Schwatka, PhD MS, Assistant Professor
- Sarah Levine, MPH, Research Services Professional
Continuing Education Credit
- This webinar is offered for an NCSS certificate of completion.
This webinar occurred on September 12, 2024. It is available on-demand here.
Download the Curriculum Manual
Highlights
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New training offered to support teacher mental health during emergency drills
Oct 19, 2023Researchers Courtney Welton-Mitchell, PhD, and Natalie Schwatka, PhD, from the Center for Health, Work & Environment at ColoradoSPH have developed, tested and launched a new training manual to help school districts enhance their emergency preparedness. The training emphasizes an integrated approach to support teacher and staff mental and physical health.Full story -
/chwe-newsroom/download-(1).jpeg?sfvrsn=792e0cbb_0 "Emergency in school")
How a New Training Eases Teachers’ Anxiety About Emergency DrillsOpens in a new window
Aug 25, 2023Two researchers from the Center for Health, Work, and Environment at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus recently completed a two-year research project on emergency preparedness plans and drills in schools.Opens in a new window Full story -
/chwe-newsroom/courtney-natalie.png?sfvrsn=c0a938bb_0 "Courtney and Natalie")
Supporting Teacher and Staff Emergency Preparedness and Well-being
Aug 16, 2023Courtney Welton-Mitchell and Natalie Schwatka from the Center for Health, Work & Environment recently completed a two-year research project of psychological preparedness training for the public-school workforce, complimenting current emergency preparedness plans and drills.Full story
The team
Miranda Dally DrPH, MS
Research Assistant Professor, Climate & Worker Health Targeted Research Training Director
Publications
This project has resulted in the following publications:
Welton-Mitchell, C., Schwatka, N. V., Dally, M., Levine, S., & Lopez, I. (2025). Mental Health Integrated Emergency Preparedness for the Public School Workforce. Journal of School Violence, 1–13.
This project stems from lessons learned from the Small+Safe+Well study and draws on the following research.
James, L., Welton-Mitchell, C., Noel, J.R., & James, A. (2019). Integrating mental health and disaster preparedness in intervention: RCT with earthquake and flood-affected communities in Haiti. Psychological Medicine, 1–11.
Welton-Mitchell, C., James, L., Khanal, S.N., James, A. (2018). An integrated approach to mental health and disaster preparedness: A cluster comparison with earthquake-affected communities in Nepal. BMC Psychiatry, Sep 15;18(1):296.
Relevant Resources
Addressing Workplace Stress