The Student Alliance for Flourishing: a collective impact initiative to support mental health in schools

Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare overall flourishing and domain-specific flourishing across three years for students and advisors who participated in the Student Alliance for Flourishing (SAFF) program between the fall of 2021 and the spring of 2024. Moreover, results were compared to the national average of flourishing for adults in the United States. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a retrospective pre-/post-design. Findings Results indicated that students and advisors improved levels of overall flourishing following participation in SAFF across all three years. Although advisors showed higher levels of flourishing than students during pre- and post-SAFF participation, students made more significant gains from pre- to post-SAFF participation. Findings also revealed that advisors scored higher than the USA average in pre- and post-SAFF participation, whereas students scored higher than the USA average only after participating in SAFF. Originality/value This paper fulfills an identified need to support mental health and comprehensive well-being in schools using collective impact principles.