Digital Support for Teachers to Promote Students' Mental Health

Titled “Mentally Healthy at School: Digital Support for Teachers”, the project is coordinated by the Association for the Promotion of the Research and Treatment Center for Mental Health (FBZ) at Ruhr University Bochum. Over the next two years, a team of researchers will develop the digital platform, providing educators with structured practical knowledge on mental health issues while strengthening their skills in this field. 

“Our goal is to offer concrete strategies that help teachers support students facing emotional or behavioral difficulties in everyday school life,” explains project coordinator Dr. Kathrin Schopf. The platform will also provide guidance on strengthening teachers’ own mental health, alongside that of their students. “We firmly believe that this approach will have a lasting, positive impact on the mental well-being of children and adolescents.”

To ensure the platform meets teachers’ needs, psychologists will first conduct assessments at selected schools to identify the most pressing stress factors in their daily routines. These insights will directly shape the platform’s content. The long-term aim is to make this resource available to as many schools as possible across Germany—particularly in urban centers, where children and adolescents face significant mental health challenges.

For nearly two years, the DZPG project “Urban Mental Health” has been underway in the Bochum district of Wattenscheid-Mitte. Its findings will now serve as a foundation for this new initiative, helping to shape a future where schools are better equipped to support mental health.