From leadership research to district action: Adapting TeamSTEPPS for school mental health teams: development of an implementation research logic model

AI-assisted editorial implementation guide. Proposed district actions are separate from the original authors’ findings and recommendations. Independent peer review of this guide is not asserted.

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Evidence and transfer

Education-related source: verify which participants, institutions and outcomes were actually studied before district adoption. Source publication type: research-article. License and identity checks do not establish study quality or causality.

Original authors’ abstract, reproduced under the source license:

Abstract Introduction Multidisciplinary school mental health (SMH) teams play a key role in delivering mental health services to children. However, poor workflow, inefficient communication, and limited resources, compromise SMH service delivery. Despite robust literature demonstrating the efficacy of team science interventions, such as the Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS), research on these interventions with SMH teams is limited. Methods We conducted qualitative interviews with SMH team members, teachers, and school administrators who had participated in a hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial of TeamSTEPPS. Participants identified barriers and facilitators to implementation of the adapted TeamSTEPPS intervention, which were then organized according to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). An Implementation Research Logic Model was developed, aligning implementation determinants with implementation strategies and proposed mechanisms by which the strategies impact outcomes. Results Barriers to the successful implementation of the adapted TeamSTEPPS intervention included a lack of financing and resources, the intervention not being a relative priority, mission misalignment, poor work infrastructure to support, unmotivated innovation recipients and leaders, and insufficient planning. Proposed implementation strategies included providing dynamic training for leadership and SMH team members, centralizing technical assistance, development and distribution of educational materials, and ongoing consultation about implementation supports/when challenges arose, developing local policies that support implementation, establishing mandates for change, pruning competing initiatives, and providing reminders of strategies to school personnel. Proposed implementation outcomes (e.g., acceptability, feasibility), service outcomes (e.g., Observation of use of TeamSTEPPS strategies, Perceptions of teaming, Attitudes toward teamwork), and “client outcomes” (e.g., student service use, absences, suspensions, grade promotion) were also identified. Discussion Lessons from the implementation process and recommendations for future directions are highlighted to inform the delivery and sustainment of team science interventions, such as TeamSTEPPS, for use with SMH teams. Keywords: school mental health, implementation research logic model, determinants, implementation strategies, team science

Study methods

The research was reviewed and approved by the [BLINDED] Institutional Review Board. Informed consent was obtained prior to engagement in research activities. Participants were informed that interview audio files would only be accessible to members of the research team. Once interviews were transcribed, audio recording files would be disposed of, and interview transcriptions would be de-identified to maintain confidentiality. We report qualitative methods and findings according to the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative studies [COREQ (35)]. Additional details about the larger trial are available in Kuriyan et al. (36).

Limitations

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A 90-day district inquiry

Days 1–15 · Appraise. Read the source methods, recruitment, comparator, outcomes and limitations. Record how the study setting differs from your district and which claim the design can support.
Days 16–30 · Design. Pilot a structured team debrief in one voluntary staff team. Invite dissent, record a specific improvement action and assign responsibility without collecting identifiable criticism. Agree participation, privacy protections, baseline and stopping rules before starting.
Days 31–60 · Observe. Collect the pre-agreed measures, keep a log of implementation changes and invite confidential voluntary feedback. Preserve existing support for staff and learners.
Days 61–90 · Decide. Compare participation distribution, action completion, near-miss reporting and a consistent voluntary team-climate measure. Increased reporting may reflect greater openness rather than more errors. Make a dated decision to stop, revise or extend the inquiry.

Board decision brief

Present the local problem, source setting, evidence limits, intervention, responsible owner, total cost, measured changes and uncertainty. Separate staff perceptions, implementation measures and student learning outcomes.

Attribution and reuse

Jordan Albright; Suzanne S Tham; Biiftu Duresso; Samantha Rushworth; Aparajita Biswas Kuriyan; Ricardo B Eiraldi; Courtney Benjamin Wolk. Adapting TeamSTEPPS for school mental health teams: development of an implementation research logic model. Frontiers in Health Services (2025-12-18). https://doi.org/10.3389/frhs.2025.1675020

Prepared 2026-11-07. Source authorship and DOI are preserved. The abstract and source passages are attributed extracts; this editorial guide is offered under the same CC BY 4.0 license.