Educating Young Children Volume 1 - Summer 2025 | Page 63

We( the authors) have researched the effectiveness of wellness intervention programs on Early Head Start and Head Start educators’ psychological, physical, professional, and relational well-being( see“ Studying the Effects of Wellness Programs” below). We found that three factors commonly influenced the implementation of these wellness initiatives: Time for implementation, peer support, and leadership support. In this article, we discuss these factors and how early learning programs can better integrate well-being strategies into daily practices and organizational structures.

Studying the Effects of Well-Being Intervention Programs

In 2021, six universities received funding to study the effects of wellness intervention programs on educators working in Early Head Start and Head Start programs. Members of our author team worked on projects that focused on one of the three following models:

› Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education: A mindfulness-based program offering 18 hours of in-person group training and a two-hour virtual follow-up session focused on emotion skills, stress reduction, and compassion practices.

› Happy Teacher Wellness Intervention: A 10-week, multicomponent program that provides educators with wearable activity trackers, online learning modules, coaching, and respite rooms.

› Cultivating Healthy Intentional Mindful Educators: An eight-week mindfulness program embedded with reflections and group sessions on social and emotional learning.

For more information about these projects, see the ZERO TO THREE article“ Nurturing the Nurturer: Elevating Educator Well-Being and Competencies Through Comprehensive Wellness Programs” by Kyong-Ah Kwon, Jini Puma, Yoonkyung Oh, Lieny Jeon, Holly Hatton, Timothy G. Ford, Charlotte Farewell, Celene Domitrovich, Carrie Clark, and Dominique Charlot-Swilley.