Mental health and wellbeing priority setting: a study of evidence use in schools in England

Educational settings represent an important site for mental health and wellbeing (MHWB) investment, with an upsurge in research evidence to support such investments. However, the way in which schools use evidence to support priority setting has not been widely documented. This article focuses on how, in practice, English schools use evidence in investing in MHWB initiatives. We conducted exploratory interviews and document analysis with decision-makers and stakeholders across four schools (two primary and two secondary). Five themes were derived to explain how school decision-makers select and use evidence (i) ‘context, needs, and ideology’; (ii) ‘internal and external data for self-management’; (iii) ‘experiences and expertise’; (iv) ‘evidence to inform and challenge’; and (v) ‘external social networks to access evidence’. The findings show the non-linear, interactive, role of evidence in schools, and how evidence is used via a ‘political model’, when decision-makers use research to back-up their position. Researchers seeking to inform resource allocation decisions in school settings may wish to work with interactive or political models of evidence use to increase the uptake of the evidence they generate.