Dear Editor,

The commentary “Strengthening Mental Health Resources for Educators: A Long-Term Perspective” detailed the urgent need for prioritization of mental health support for educators, offering a long-term, system-focused perspective.Reference Aditama and Selfiardy ¹ There is a large body of work that indicates that educators are at-risk for mental health difficulties, and the COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on this critical need. Educators operate at the intersection of several systems, including education (public or private), public health, and different levels of government (local, state/province, federal), among others. Educators are asked to function within and between these systems to help students, parents, and families navigate community resources (e.g., transportation, food assistance, health care). Educators have long been regarded as pillars of our communities, critical to the development of the next generation. However, these conceptions fail to shape a core aspect of educator identities – they are humans first. A 2022 US survey found that less than half of US educators who responded believed that the general public respects them or views them as professionals. ² In a sample of over 14 000 educators, the American Psychological Association’s report demonstrated that nearly half of educators endorsed desire to quit or transfer jobs.Reference McMahon, Anderman and Astor ³ This suggests that, despite platitudes about the value of educators, perhaps behavioral action, advocacy, and awareness are needed to supplement verbiage. Educators are critical to our communities. Below we have suggested several action steps that may be taken to facilitate valuing of educators in action.

In the aforementioned report, ² educators detail responsibilities that fall far outside of the realm of their training, education, and areas of expertise. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted this challenge, wherein educators were balancing teaching modalities, cleaning classrooms, supplying students with personal protective equipment, and implementing public health recommendations, to name a few of many tasks. Beyond any individual disaster, educators are often called upon for responsibilities that come at an opportunity cost. Said otherwise, when educators are serving as first responders for student mental health,Reference Gunawardena, Leontini and Nair ⁴ spending personal funds on student school supplies, coaching a team, leading an extracurricular club, or grading on the weekend, that time and energy cannot be allocated elsewhere.

Existing in our present world may evoke distress for those who are paying attention. Between the COVID-19 pandemic, wars across continents, natural disasters, and reports of daily violence around the world, among many others, there are many objective stressors that may weigh heavily on the minds of educators, students, families, and community members. Although often discussed as a skill in professional development, cultivating work-life balance is an elusive, ever-changing target that may be viewed as unattainable in the face of a wide array of responsibilities. Support of work-life balance from employers and systems is a critical first step toward promotion of educator mental health. Educators need concrete paths to access mental health support within their occupational context. Beyond accessibility, however, educators need personal time to access health care services. Pragmatically, if health care services are primarily offered during the workday, while educators are working with students, when might educators seek out psychotherapy, psychiatric care, primary care, or other mental health resources? As a result, integration within the occupational context seems optimal for 1) demonstrating a visible investment in educator mental health, 2) improving accessibility of psychiatric professionals, and 3) eliminating time and physical barriers. Nevertheless, many systems may include educators who need mental health support while also having limited funds to hire a team of employee assistance professionals. This again points to system-level solutions that are necessary to combat system-level problems. Changes of this magnitude likely necessitate policy-level interventions that are accompanied by increases in funding. Research can support these efforts by evaluating efficacy and accessibility of services delivered.

Alongside research regarding intervention efficacy, implementation, and sustainability, there are several key research questions that the authors pose to guide future investigation. What types of interventions work for educators across presenting concerns, including burnout, depression, anxiety, among others? What are the barriers to entry? What facilitates educators seeking, completing, and benefiting from services? Identification of these barriers and facilitators may be best defined through qualitative methodologies to provide the necessary nuance and context. What are the systemic issues that impact access to care, adoption of care when available, and successful outcomes? Lastly, given that research indicates high risk for burnout, depression, and anxiety, what are the key public health interventions to reduce these adverse outcomes, mitigate them when they occur, and put the impetus on systems, rather than individuals, to collaboratively reduce professional suffering? Put simply, educators are likely to benefit from psychiatric and psychotherapeutic interventions; however, when the symptoms occur in a stressful context that is beyond the educators’ control, who harbors responsibility? The answer: we all do – systems, individuals, communities, and researchers alike. Our findings identified psychological flexibility as a possible target for intervention;Reference Carlson, Stegall and Sirotiak ⁵ despite the promise of this modifiable skill, cultivating systemic resilience and systemic agility are likely to impact many educators across levels of the system. Mirroring the great service that educators provide to our communities, equal measures of effort should be allocated to prioritize educator health.

Finally, as indicated in multiple reports and peer-reviewed manuscripts, there is a great deal of variability across educators, systems, countries, and contexts in which educators function. As a result, educators are key stakeholders that should be participating in decision-making across the educational system. As the world changes, classrooms will change, and educators will be forced to adapt. By welcoming educators to these discussions, educators will have a “seat at the table” and can have their voices represented. Empowering educators with input that is proportionate to their investment in the outcome would likely improve career satisfaction and offer a buffer for stress. Moreover, hearing educators’ voices will improve access to supports. Whereas many educators in a US survey noted that support was primarily from fellow educators, ² bringing educators into department, school, district, local, state, and federal discussions would be a welcome shift toward educator autonomy. COVID-19 presented an interesting case study and pointed to gaps in autonomy and agency. This challenge persists into present day, where a recent preprint reported that educators continue to be at higher risk for repeated COVID-19 infections, thereby increasing risk for developing Long COVID.Reference Soares, Assaf and McCorkell ⁶ The risk for K-12 educators was higher than for health care providers who delivered direct patient care.Reference Soares, Assaf and McCorkell ⁶ Critically, Long COVID risk increases with each subsequent COVID-19 infection, so those who are infected with COVID-19 multiple times are at increased risk for this impairing condition that has no cure and that few remit from.Reference Soares, Assaf and McCorkell ⁶ As educators remain on the frontlines, it is critical that educational and public health leaders take steps to protect occupational, physical, and mental health of educators at work. As identified in the APA’s qualitative findings,Reference McMahon, Anderman and Astor ³ empowering educators with autonomy, transparency, and a voice in decision-making will likely increase buy-in, build trust, and improve job satisfaction.

In conclusion, there is a critical need for increased support, resources, and attention in educator mental health. Cutting across systems, educators are central to building communities and evolving our ever-changing world. Prioritizing educator health is therefore essential to cultivating equitable and accessible systems that incorporate educator perspectives at every step. By addressing educator mental health, the system is then set up to maximize career satisfaction, mental and physical health, and personal-professional balance at an individual level. The COVID-19 pandemic provided valuable, critical evidence that more support is needed for educator mental health. We must not wait for another sign – the time to act is now.