Designing for Mental Well-being in Schools
*Disclaimer: This blog discusses youth mental health issues, including statistics related to psychological distress and suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out to a trusted professional or support service. If you are in crisis, seek immediate help from a mental health professional or crisis helpline in your area.
Embracing a holistic approach to education design, with mental wellness as a key priority, is essential given the concerning state of youth mental health in New Zealand, particularly for high school and university-aged students.
As we have discovered in previous blogs in this series, research shows that, through various elements, including layout and colour use, the physical environment can have a profound impact on student academic outcome. The same is true for student overall wellness. Incorporating mental health rooms or wellness areas into school designs can offer students safe and calming spaces where they can decompress, access counselling or practice mindfulness.
The Research
The statistics around youth mental health in Aotearoa are deeply alarming and have been rapidly declining over the past 10 years.1 According to a 2020 UNICEF report on the EU and OECD countries (measuring child physical health, academic and social skills, and mental well-being) New Zealand ranked last out of 38 countries for child mental well-being outcomes. The report went on to state that youth in Aotearoa, aged 15-19, have the second highest suicide rate in the world.2
More recently, in a 2022 nationwide well-being survey conducted by the Ministry of Social Development, titled What about Me, 28% of secondary school aged participants reported symptoms of serious mental health distress and 12% said they had attempted suicide in the past 12 months. These statistics were much higher for female, disabled and rainbow young people, as well as rangatahi Māori. The report provided some key insights into where students felt safest with young people across all groups reporting that they felt safest where they usually live, at work and in their communities— they feel less safe in school.3 Ensuring students feel safe and supported in their education requires a multi-disciplinary approach—one that includes timely access to mental health support services, access to resources, social connection, open communication, community engagement and the physical environment.
Spaces of Connection Have a Meaningful Impact on Mental Health
According to the CDC, connectedness within a community, such as a school or university, is an important way to support mental health and positive behaviours. Students who feel connected to their schools and universities are far less likely to engage in negative, high-risk behaviours and much more likely to have positive academic outcomes. Social and cultural connection plays a powerful role in lowering anxiety and depression, helping young people to regulate their emotions, leading to higher self-esteem and empathy and actually improving their immune systems.4
When it comes to the layout of education facilities, designers can intentionally create spaces that offer students the opportunity for spontaneous peer-to-peer connections to take place, foster a sense of safety and support academic success for students of all abilities.
Key Design Considerations for Mental Well-being
When included as part of a comprehensive support system, the way in which education facilities are designed can play a significant support role for students.
Some key design considerations to support the mental wellbeing of students can include:
Dedicated mental health rooms – Quiet, calming spaces equipped with comfortable seating, soft lighting and natural elements. These spaces can offer students a safe place to process emotions, practice mindfulness and access resources on their own terms.
Peer connection and collaboration areas – Spaces that encourage social interaction to enhance emotional well-being. Students who feel socially connected are more emotionally resilient and are far more likely to have positive education outcomes.
Small break-out spaces – Reduce emotional and sensory overwhelm by offering smaller, intimate spaces for students. These spaces are particularly helpful for neurodiverse students.
Colour psychology – Use calming tones (soft blues and greens) to create a sense of calm and safety and avoiding overstimulating bright colours in break-out spaces and dedicated mental well-being areas.
Natural light and biophilic design – Incorporate natural light and organic textures to lower stress and anxiety.
Sensory considerations – Using sound-absorbing materials and reducing visual clutter helps to reduce the mental load.
A wellness room is a dedicated space where students are able to go when they feel overwhelmed, anxious or unable to regulate their emotions. These rooms are equipped with different sensory activities that students can engage in to refocus their attention before they return to the classroom. It also offers students a safe space to practice mindfulness techniques such as breathing exercises or meditation.
Benefits of Wellness Rooms
Research shows that these spaces can lead to more attentive and active participation by students in the classroom, in turn, improving their changes of positive academic outcomes.5
According to data gathered from recipients of wellness room grants from The Cook Center for Human Connection in the United States, wellness rooms are accessed by students weekly and on average, 90% of users return to the classroom after spending 10 minutes practicing wellness techniques.
Guidelines for Wellness Rooms
In order for wellness rooms to be effective, they must have certain standards, training and plans of action in place and these expectations must be clearly communicated to students.
Clear guidelines: Staff, whanau and students must be trained on appropriate use of the space before it opens.
Time limits: Depending on the age of students that the wellness room is serving, teachers and staff may set clear time limits for how long students are allowed to stay in the wellness room. One solution for this can be to give students an hourglass timer that lasts for 10 minutes. Once the timer is up, the student is expected to return to their classroom. Tertiary level students should be able to monitor their own time.
Dedicated professional support: A dedicated professional, trained in identifying when to escalate a student to the school psychologist, should be available at all times to check students in and out of the room and monitor students, ensuring they are safe and supported.
No-phone space: A wellness room should be a no-phone space that encourages students to find analog coping mechanisms for emotional regulation that they can use in and out of the classroom.
Sensory activities: Wellness rooms should include sensory activities, such as fidget objects, sand, stress balls and soothing music or sounds. Ideally, they would also have comfortable furniture that contributes to students feelings of safety and support.
Whanau involvement: Finally, when age-appropriate, whanau involvement is critical to the success of wellness rooms. Data that schools collect can help identify students who are most at risk based on the frequency of their visits to the wellness room. This information can then be shared with whanau or appropriate support staff who can work with the student and the school psychologist or other professionals to determine a plan to help at-risk students improve their mental health and positively impact all aspects of their lives.6
The current state of student mental health in Aotearoa is deeply concerning and requires a comprehensive suite of wrap-around supports. Designing education facilities with mental wellness in mind is one of the essential puzzle pieces for fostering a supportive environment where students can thrive academically, emotionally and socially. Thoughtful design can significantly reduce stress, improve focus and enhance overall well-being and academic outcomes. As we shape the future of education, it is crucial for schools, architects, designers and policymakers to actively promote mental well-being in schools. By making intentional design choices, schools become environments that not only educate but also nurture the well-being of every student.
References:
1.Terry Fleming, Sue Crengle, Roshini Peiris-John, Jude Ball, Sarah Fortune, Esther S. Yao, Cinnamon Lindsay Latimer, Analosa Veukiso-Ulugia, Terryann C. Clark, Priority actions for improving population youth mental health: An equity framework for Aotearoa New Zealand, Mental Health & Prevention, Volume 34, 2024, 200340, ISSN 2212-6570
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2024.200340(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212657024000229)
2. UNICEF Innocenti, ‘Worlds of Influence: Understanding what shapes child well-being in rich countries’, Innocenti Report Card 16, UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti, Florence, 2020.
3. Whataboutme.nz A Youth National Health and Wellbeing Survery 2021, Overveiw Report October 2022.
https://www.whataboutme.nz/
4. Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/surgeon-general-issues-rare-public-health-advisory-over-youth-mental-health-crisis-128141381995; https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/22/teachers-are-in-the-midst-of-a-burnout-crisis-it-became-intolerable.html; https://cmha.ca/news/the-importance-of-human-connection/#_ftn1
5. The Impact of a Classroom Calm Down Corner in a Primary Classroom Clairissa Thompson, 2021
6.What are Wellness Rooms and Why Do Schools Need Them? by Anne Brown – CEO of the Cooke Centre for Human Connection.