Tatenda Mwoyo I have a Masters in Social Policy and Management from the University of Cape Town. I am a junior researcher at the Institute of Life Course Health and Research, Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University. I have been there since April 2020. I worked as a trauma counselor and in youth development before joining the ILCHR. I am interested in adolescent health, parenting skills, and sexual and reproductive issues. My doctorate will focus on how school climate can support adolescent health. I was responsible for coordinating and supervising daily research activities as well as implementing the HASHTAG project intervention.
Stefani Du Toit
Stefani Du Toit
I am a researcher working at the Life Course Health Research Institute in the Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University. I completed my Masters in Psychology in Stellenbosch in 2017. I am currently studying for a PhD in Public Health where I explore adolescent mental health in the context of adversity.
I became keenly interested in adolescent mental health after my experience managing a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention to reduce interpersonal violence and improve the mental health of adolescents living in a community-based low resources. My role in the HASHTAG project was to develop intervention materials for the project and help oversee the implementation of the intervention program.
Please give a brief overview of the HASHTAG project?
The HASHTAG project (Health Action in ScHool for a Thriving Adolescent Generation) is a multi-tiered school-based health improvement intervention aimed at promoting school climate and positive mental health and preventing mental disorders. The HASHTAG project is linked to the WHO-UNICEF Helping Adolescents Thrive (HAT) initiative which aims to strengthen adolescent mental health policies and programs. The project was carried out in Nepal and South Africa; however, this blog post will focus on the South African experience. In South Africa, the HASHTAG project was implemented in two schools in Khayelitsha, a large peri-urban settlement outside Cape Town, South Africa, where levels of adversity and poverty are very high.
The HASHTAG project combined two strategies: a whole-school approach and a classroom-based psychosocial intervention. The school's overall approach was called Thriving Environment in Schools (TES), which aimed to improve school climate and raise awareness of mental health. TES targeted students, school staff and parents/guardians. Thriving Together (TT) was a classroom intervention, which was delivered to groups of Year 8 students (aged 13–14 years) over 6 weekly sessions. The TT was delivered by trained and experienced program facilitators from the Khayelitsha region themselves. As a highly interactive program, TT covered a range of skills including problem solving, communication, assertiveness, emotional awareness, mental health literacy and mindfulness.
HASHTAG intervention facilitators (from left to right): Philani Ngxoli; Neziswa Ntante; Tatenda Mahwoyo; Xolani Schweni and Akhona Smbudla.
What is your relationship with SDG3? SDG3 aims to promote well-being and ensure healthy lifestyles. This is what motivated the implementation of the HASHTAG project. The HASHTAG project is part of SDG3.4 which aims to promote mental health and reduce mortality from noncommunicable diseases by 2030. Around 90 % of all children and adolescents live in high-income countries low and medium, while 10 to 20 % have a mental illness. Adolescents in Khayelitsha are at particular risk of poor mental health due to a number of factors linked to low socio-economic status. These include exposures to violence and economic instability within the household.
COVID-19 has also had a major impact on adolescent mental health. Adolescents in school have been negatively affected by the effects of isolation, closures, economic uncertainty, loss and bereavement. Adolescence, a period of rapid social, physical, and psychological growth, provides many opportunities to promote health and prevent disease. The role of schools in encouraging healthy behaviors and mental health among students is becoming increasingly important. School-based interventions have been shown to be effective in promoting mental health and well-being, particularly those that target the entire school environment. The HASHTAG Project is a program designed to promote mental well-being and improve the health of adolescents. It targets both the overall school climate and individual students. What role did adolescents and stakeholders play in the development of the HASHTAG project
?
Because we firmly believe that “nothing is about us without us”, the voices of adolescents have been crucial to the development of the HASHTAG Project. We felt it was important that the HASHTAG project met the challenges and needs of the intended participants and that it was appropriate for the adolescents and the context in which the program operated. During the development of the HASHTAG project, our team conducted several focus groups as well as in-depth interviews, including with adolescents, educators, NGO leaders, school principals and a Ministry of Education official. The engagements allowed us to better understand the challenges and needs of adolescents, as well as possible solutions. A number of intervention groups with educators and adolescents were also organized. In these intervention development groups, groups were asked to provide feedback on the activities that had been tested.
What are the benefits of a multicomponent intervention in resource-limited situations? Multicomponent interventions, in our view, may be beneficial in resource-limited settings due to their potential synergistic effect. For example, aligning the psychosocial sessions with the school climate intervention could have had a more positive impact on the students and the school. Psychosocial interventions can lead to better outcomes for students and teachers. A positive school climate will likely promote positive mental well-being. Multicomponent interventions are therefore more attractive to policymakers, educators, and funders because they leverage multiple components in a single intervention. Multicomponent interventions are more cost-effective in resource-limited settings because they can have a greater impact on multiple outcomes.
HASHTAG Project from an educator's perspective.
Could you tell us more about your role in the HASHTAG project and about yourself?
Ziyanda Mazondwa
My name is Ziyanda Mazondwa and I am a teacher at Usasazo High School located in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. I obtained a Bachelor of Arts and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from the University of the Western Cape. My areas of focus are IsiXhosa, English and Life Orientation. I am passionate about inspiring my students, as I also grew up in a township [informal settlement] and am the first graduate in my family. My role in the HASHTAG project was that of liaison teacher (liaison between the school and Stellenbosch University) and member of the School Action Group (SAG).
What are some of the mental health challenges in your school?
In order to answer this question, it is essential to describe the contextual factors of my school, which is a township school. First, some parents are not actively involved in learners' lives. So there are many cases of child neglect as well as child-headed households. Second, due to high levels of crime in the area, most learners are regularly exposed to traumatic incidents. Additionally, there are high rates of unwanted teenage pregnancies, extremely high levels of poverty, and high levels of alcohol and drug abuse. Each of these contextual factors has a detrimental effect on the mental health of learners and this sometimes manifests itself in emotional and behavioral problems in the classroom.
What was your experience of the HASHTAG project?
Honestly, I really liked the holistic and balanced nature of the HASHTAG project. The intervention focused on the mental health of teachers and students. As a beginning teacher, the teaching modules gave me practical tips to strengthen my approach to teaching. For example, I really enjoyed listening to and participating in the session on seven tips for engaging with teenagers. Additionally, information on labor relations and conflict management was also beneficial. As highlighted previously, students come from different backgrounds. Therefore, participating in these modules gave me a new perspective on how to connect, approach and work with high school students. On a personal level, my involvement in the HASHTAG project helped me perfect my organizational skills. Overall, the project was well planned and I hope and desire that it be implemented in other schools.
You can find other items from this collection here.
At Springer Nature, we are committed to playing our part in progress towards achieving SDG3, both by supporting researchers and being an active voice, promoting an evidence-based interdisciplinary approach for all targets and indicators of this objective. Learn more about our SDG3 activities and the Springer Nature SDG Program.
English 
French