Supporting Students Through the Continuum of Care: Promoting Academic Progress During Mental Health Treatment

Each year, approximately 1 in 7 adolescents will receive treatment in an inpatient, residential, or day-treatment facility. This typically occurs when a student’s mental health condition begins to impact their ability to function in school or at home, or if they may be at risk of self-harm. Clinical programming within these treatment facilities is designed to provide stabilization and a structured environment to help patients learn to cope with stressors and manage their mental health.

The school environment is often a cause for anxiety and depression, and many times, academics are impacted negatively by students’ mental health struggles. Because of this, academic programming is critical for students during treatment, helping to maintain academic consistency and structure.

Educational support during mental health treatment promotes students’ long term academic goals by helping them stay on course with grade-level curriculum. For hospitals and behavioral health facilities, providing academic programming can be extremely beneficial to school-age patients, enabling students to stay engaged with curriculum during treatment and contributing to a smooth transition from treatment back to the school environment.

Hospitals and behavioral health facilities looking to provide academic programming to student-patients can find the support they need by working with an external partner that specializes in developing and delivering academic education programs. Between navigating program design, scheduling, building a curriculum, managing student needs, addressing parent concerns, and meeting local and federal requirements, working with an external partner can help facilities provide academic programming without an increased burden on staff.

LearnWell Academics During Mental Health Treatment provide a specialized instructional approach to supporting academic progress for students with mental health needs who require treatment in an inpatient, residential, or day-treatment facility. As a key component to clinical programming in hospitals and treatment facilities, our teachers create a bridge between the treatment facility and the student’s home school district by obtaining the student’s assignments and delivering personalized instruction, academic structure and a relative sense of normalcy for students throughout their treatment. LearnWell Academics During Mental Health Treatment helps students maintain academic progress while reducing the stress of falling behind during their school absence.

By supporting students with academic programming during treatment, hospitals, behavioral health facilities, and parents can help students maintain academic consistency and structure while in treatment and contribute to a smooth transition back to the school environment following treatment. Partnering with LearnWell’s support services can help facilities provide students with both the clinical and academic support they need. This approach––paired with ongoing support for students’ emerging mental health needs as well as post-treatment transition back to school––helps support students with mental health needs throughout their continuum of care.