The batyr programs: Promoting Young People's Wellbeing

An evaluation of existing batyr mental health promotion programs in school settings

Our Vision

The mental health and wellbeing of young Australians are declining. Initiatives that promote wellbeing and prevent poor mental health among young people are essential to relieve pressure on individuals, the community, and the system of services. While the economic case for preventing and addressing poor mental health is clear, the evidence that school and university mental health programs are cost-effective is less apparent. Therefore there is a need for research to establish the outcomes, impacts and cost-effectiveness of mental health programs for young people.

batyr’s programs are promotion and prevention initiatives delivered in schools and universities, targeting secondary students in Years 9 to 12 as well as university students. These programs aim to promote positive attitudes towards mental health and encourage help-seeking behaviours . Led by young facilitators through peer-to-peer storytelling, the sessions focus on personal experiences of overcoming mental health challenges, highlighting themes of resilience, hope, and the importance of seeking support. The strengths-based approach equips students with practical tools to manage their own mental health and support their peers.

Our team has designed an appropriate and exciting approach to rigorously evaluate the batyr programs for schools and universities that will provide the best quality data and insights and should provide the basis for a sustainable plan for longer term evaluation. Ultimately, the team's vision is to work with batyr to develop a framework and accompanying tools that enable batyr to scale and grow the brilliant delivery of programs and evaluate these in an ongoing way into the future.

Our Project Plan

The project includes guidance to batyr on how to best collect data as part of business as usual (e.g., procedures for collecting quality assurance data; selection of measurement tools) and provide the researchers access to the data it collects so researchers can analyse the data to answer the following research questions:

• What are the short- and long-term effects of batyr programs on outcome measures (behaviour change, help-seeking, stigma and wellbeing)?

• Were batyr programs being delivered as intended?

• What is the cost-benefit ratio of delivering batyr programs, and how do the financial investments compare to the program’s measurable outcomes and benefits?

The researchers will also seek permission, via the relevant school sector’s ethics application process to conduct qualitative longitudinal case studies.

The use of comparative case studies in this evaluation will provide a complementary and rigorous way to assess if and how batyr programs cause specific changes (program outcomes) and their role in shifting systems. The aim is to identify the relationship between different conditions and outcomes by collating and comparing the combinations of conditions and outcomes in specific intervention contexts and over time. The comparative case studies will seek to explain the results of batyr’s secondary data by answering the following questions:

● What are the broader contextual conditions that contribute to positive outcomes in contexts where batyr programs are delivered?

● What is the cumulative effect and overall contribution of batyr programs to the outcomes (necessary or sufficient)?

● How do batyr programs contribute to shifts in school contexts that support program outcomes?

To address these questions, the team will:

● Identify varied case study sites, according to geographical location (regional, peri-urban, metro) and sector

● Leverage the secondary data collected by batyr as part of program delivery

● Collect additional primary data with a subsample of students and staff members.

The comparative case studies will be analysed to compare conditions with outcomes and triangulate the findings with the data collected by batyr to explain outcomes.

Project History

Members of the team have a long standing relationship with batyr, having conducted a number of small-scale projects to understand and support the pathways to impact of new programs and welcome the opportunity to support batyr in this next significant step. Moreover, the team will provide batyr with a world-class evaluation that is aligned with sector best-practice.

What Impact will this research have?

This longitudinal project is expected to generate the following:

• New insights on the extent to which batyr’s programs can sustain behavioural change.

• The cumulative effects of engagement in more than one batyr program.

• Quality control findings which batyr will use to refine future offerings and to inform strategic adjustments.

• The complementary process evaluation will provide an enhanced understanding of how the batyr programs are delivered, the extent of fidelity, barriers and enablers to implementation, and factors influencing engagement of students.

• An evaluation that will inform important changes to program delivery to increase its reach, sustainability and effectiveness for students across Australia.

Outputs

The researchers will collaborate with batyr in August 2028 to develop outputs and disseminate findings for further policy improvement and program funding, including any of the following of journal articles, conference papers and reports as appropriate.

Outcomes

The resulting approach, evaluation framework, indicators, measures, and implementation process will produce insights that benchmark impacts against accepted international criteria, while measuring impacts specific to educational contexts.