Handle With Care Evaluation Project: Impact of a Mental Health Promotion Training Program on Child Care Practitioners' Knowledge and Practices

This study explored the effectiveness of Handle With Care, a mental health promotion training program for child care practitioners working with children between birth to age 6. Handle With Care program content is based on research evidence. Training units are intended to deepen practitioners’ understanding of how children’s social-emotional development, centre and family connections and positive workplace activities link to children’s well-being and practitioners’ roles in these areas. Fifty-seven front-line practitioners from three different regional groups (Rural, Suburban, Urban) completed Handle With Care workshops and were compared to 56 comparison participants, matched according to region, who were not exposed to training. The evaluation utilized a time series repeated measures design and consisted of mixed quantitative and qualitative measures to determine training outcomes related to practitioner’s mental health promotion knowledge and practices. Findings indicated that child care practitioners who participated in Handle With Care training demonstrated increased mental health promotion knowledge. In particular, they acquired better comprehension of issues concerning practitioner and child attachment relationships, children’s self-esteem, emotion expression and regulation and peer relationships. Training participants significantly differed from comparison participants in their knowledge of these topics. In terms of practices, training participants also evidenced significantly improved practices relative to comparison participants. These gains were especially observed in relation to practitioners building trusting relationships with children, fostering children’s sense of self and competence, positive peer interactions and practitioners promoting their own mental health. In contrast, Handle With Care training did not show the intended consistent outcomes with respect to practitioners helping children with emotional communication, dealing with diversity, changes and transitions and practitioners building relationships with children’s parents. Results tended to be discrepant across regional groups, and in some instances, gains in mental health promotion and knowledge were not sustained over time. Overall, the study suggests that Handle With Care is a useful way to augment child care practitioners’ capacity to consider the mental health of all children in their care and flexibly implement strategies to help children reach their optimal potential. The study also provides important information concerning regional differences and areas of training content that may benefit from revision.Ph