SWELE Program: An Unstructured Outdoor Play With Mindfulness-based Interventions to Promote Mental Health Among Students With Special Education Needs

NCT ID: NCT06112483

Last Updated: 2023-11-01

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: UNKNOWN
• Total Enrollment: 1064 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-11-15
• Study Completion Date: 2024-07-14

Brief Summary

This is an observational study with the aim of SWELE Programme is to raise mental health knowledge and awareness by implementing a play-based approach on Supporting Wellness in E-Child Learning Environments (SWELE) programme combining unstructured outdoor play activities with mindfulness-based interventions to promote mental health in children and adolescents with special education needs (SEN), in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a 16-week SWELE programme and it will be conducted in two batches. Each batch has three special schools. The main activities include: One training workshop for three groups in each special school: 1) Scout Leaders (special schools' teachers), 2) SEN students (scouts in the school) to become Youth Mental Health Ambassadors and 3) for parents, school social workers, school nurses, schoolteachers and stakeholders; 30 minutes unstructured outdoor play with mindfulness activities 2 times per week for 16 weeks

After participated the SWELE programme, the primary outcomes include reducing anxiety symptoms, reducing negative emotions, improving social skills in peer relationships; and changing in playfulness level among SEN children and adolescents.

Main activities of SWELE programme:

• Unstructured outdoor free play integrated into the school's extra-curricular activities (Youth Mental Health Ambassadors) to promote SEN students' mental health for objectives 1-4.
• Use mindfulness-based podcasts, mindfulness games, mindfulness art for objectives 1-2.
• Through meditation and deep breathing technique, storytelling with relaxing waves piano music, yoga and mindful art for objectives 1-2.
• Training Workshops (Training of trainers) for Scout Leaders who will implement SWELE program in each special school.
• Youth Mental Health Ambassador Program for SEN students who are enrolled in Scout Club in each special school; SWELE training workshops for parents and schoolteachers will also be held in each special school for objectives 1-4.
• Examples of unstructured play might be creative play alone or with others, including artistic or musical games. imaginative games - for example, making cubbyhouses with boxes or blankets, dressing up or playing make-believe, exploring new or favorite spaces like school backyards, parks, playgrounds and so on.

Detailed Description

Intervention: SWELE Program:

How does this SWELE programme combine unstructured outdoor play with mindfulness-based interventions is different from other existing services in the community? This 16-week programme focuses on Supporting Wellness in E-Child Learning Environments (SWELE) programme by combining unstructured outdoor play with mindfulness-based interventions to promote mental health in SEN students, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no such SWELE programme to promote mental health for SEN students in Hong Kong, especially in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. Six special schools have been recruited and they would participate the SWELE programme.

A playful approach of unstructured play has also been found effective on promoting positive emotions and emotional competence among early adolescents. Unstructured Outdoor Play coupled with Mindfulness-based Interventions via SWELE programme to Promote Mental Health for children and adolescents with SEN during COVID-19 pandemic. Very limited unstructured outdoor play-based programme integrated into the extra-curricular activities in the special schools in Hong Kong.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in increased anxiety and stress among children and adolescents in Hong Kong. In order to help alleviate these symptoms, the project team of the SWELE program is collaborating with The Scout Association of Hong Kong on a 16-week SWELE programme to promote SEN students' mental health. The mindfulness-based interventions focus on social-emotional learning activities in schools. Without intentional social-emotional development, SEN students may not learn how to process their emotions and connect with other in healthy ways. That is where mindfulness can come in. What is mindfulness? Mindfulness involves both an awareness and an acceptance of both the world around us and our internal experiences. Mindful people tend to focus more on the present instead of reflecting on the past or future, and they cultivate a curiosity towards their thoughts, emotions, or physical sensations.

The new knowledge generates from the findings of this mental health promotion project are important for raising the public's awareness about the impact on SEN student's mental health and advancing our understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic's impacts on service disruption and transition and subsequently on concerning SEN students' mental health. Thus, school health policy and strategies should be developed appropriately in promoting SEN

Conditions

Specific Learning Disorder; Intellectual Disability, Mild to Moderate; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Physical Disability

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: COHORT
• Study Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

Children and adolescents with special education needs

Children and adolescents with special education needs, including (a) specific learning difficulties; (b) intellectual disability; (c) autism; (d) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; (e) physical disabilities.

SWELE Programme

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

This 16-week programme focuses on Supporting Wellness in E-Child Learning Environments (SWELE) programme by combining unstructured outdoor play with mindfulness-based interventions to promote mental health in SEN students, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no such SWELE programme to promote mental health for SEN students in Hong Kong, especially in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.

A playful approach of unstructured play has also been found effective on promoting positive emotions and emotional competence among early adolescents (Harn & Bo, 2019). Unstructured Outdoor Play coupled with Mindfulness-based Interventions via SWELE programme to Promote Mental Health for children and adolescents with SEN during COVID-19 pandemic. Very limited unstructured outdoor play-based programme integrated into the extra-curricular activities in the special schools in Hong Kong.

Interventions

SWELE Programme

This 16-week programme focuses on Supporting Wellness in E-Child Learning Environments (SWELE) programme by combining unstructured outdoor play with mindfulness-based interventions to promote mental health in SEN students, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no such SWELE programme to promote mental health for SEN students in Hong Kong, especially in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.

A playful approach of unstructured play has also been found effective on promoting positive emotions and emotional competence among early adolescents (Harn & Bo, 2019). Unstructured Outdoor Play coupled with Mindfulness-based Interventions via SWELE programme to Promote Mental Health for children and adolescents with SEN during COVID-19 pandemic. Very limited unstructured outdoor play-based programme integrated into the extra-curricular activities in the special schools in Hong Kong.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

Unstructured play with mindfulness-based interventions

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

SEN students:

1. are studying in a special school;

2. can speak and understand Cantonese

3. have no diagnosis of any cardiovascular disease

4. can provide parental consent

Exclusion Criteria

SEN students:

1. are not studying in a special school;

2. do not speak and understand Cantonese

3. have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease

4. do not provide parental consent

• Minimum Eligible Age: 6 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Chinese University of Hong Kong

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

LEE Regina Lai Tong

Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Regina Lee, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Central Contacts

Regina Lai Tong Lee, PhD

Role: CONTACT

reginalee@cuhk.edu.hk

852-39433519

Carmen Chan, BSc

Role: CONTACT

kamanchan002@cuhk.edu.hk

852-39435185

References

Lee RLT, Lane S, Brown G, Leung C, Kwok SWH, Chan SWC. Systematic review of the impact of unstructured play interventions to improve young children's physical, social, and emotional wellbeing. Nurs Health Sci. 2020 Jun;22(2):184-196. doi: 10.1111/nhs.12732.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 32358875 (View on PubMed)

Lee RLT, Chan SWC, Chong YY, Chau SWH, Choi KC, Chien WT. Effects of a SWELE program for improving mental wellbeing in children and adolescents with special educational needs: protocol of a quasi-experimental study. BMC Pediatr. 2024 Dec 6;24(1):800. doi: 10.1186/s12887-024-05288-8.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 39643869 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

2022.659-T

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id