One Day for Mental Health: Peer Support Education at an Islamic School in Sothern Thailand

Abstract

Adolescent mental health is a critical yet often overlooked issue, particularly in boarding school environments where access to mental health education is limited. This condition contributes to low mental health literacy and insufficient ability among adolescents to recognize and respond to psychological problems in themselves and their peers. This community engagement program aimed to improve mental health literacy among adolescents in Southern Thailand through a participatory peer educator training model supported by visual and contextual learning methods. The program consisted of a pre-test, interactive educational sessions using illustrative media and a local translator, reflective group discussions, and a post-test to assess learning outcomes. The results showed an improvement in understanding, with scores increasing from 74% to 80%, and a statistically significant difference based on the Wilcoxon test. The use of contextual visual materials proved effective in facilitating comprehension of sensitive mental health topics. Overall, this program demonstrates that a brief, participatory, and visually supported educational intervention can effectively enhance adolescents’ mental health awareness and foster empathy within the boarding school community.