A community-based mental health intervention at Montarena Secondary School in Chatsworth, Durban, has given University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) final-year Nursing students valuable insight into adolescent mental health, the impact of poverty and the importance of compassionate care.

As part of their Community Mental Health Nursing module, the students facilitated an interactive programme at the school under the theme: ‘When Life Gets Heavy: Building Resilience, Healthy Coping and Health-Seeking Among Adolescents’.

The intervention used games and facilitated conversations to introduce school learners to practical mental health lessons, with each activity designed to promote the aims of the exercise. Food and refreshments were provided by the student group.

For the students, however, the experience extended well beyond the classroom, offering a deeper understanding of the social and economic circumstances that shape people’s lives and influence their mental health.

According to class representative Daniel Sargent, the module encouraged students to look beyond individual behavior and consider the broader social circumstances that shape people’s choices and lived experiences. “The module helped us understand people and their circumstances, and what leads to their choices—whether positive or negative. We got to see the realities of South Africans, particularly those who are underprivileged and poor, and realize how significantly poverty affects mental health,” he said.

He further explained that mental health nursing demands that practitioners listen deeply to patients’ stories to grasp the underlying factors affecting their emotional and psychological well-being. These issues often transcend the individual, stemming from systemic poverty, scarce opportunities, and adverse social environments. For Sargent and his peers, the experience reinforced both the responsibility and the privilege of nursing. “Love people, respect people. Everyone is struggling with something,” he reflected.

The school was allocated to the student group as part of their clinical placement, providing an opportunity to apply their learning in a real-world community setting. The intervention was facilitated under the guidance of UKZN lecturers and markers Dr Eve Jacobs and Dr Nondumiso Shangase, who supported the students’ academic development and assessment.

The experience demonstrated the value of community-based learning in preparing future nurses to approach mental health with greater empathy, cultural awareness and an appreciation of the social factors influencing well-being.

Through this engagement, the students were reminded that effective mental health care begins not only with clinical knowledge but also with listening, understanding and treating every person with dignity and compassion.

Words: Lunga Memela

Photographs: Supplied