Hope is a critical part of life. Higher hope equates to many positive outcomes in life, including better grades, economic success, improved health and well being, longer life, less violence, more resilience, increased confidence, improved leadership, better employee engagement, and more. We created this program to test the theory that Hope is Teachable, and we are finding that to be true.
If we can teach our kids (and employers, parents, teachers… everyone) how to find pathways to hope, no matter what the experience, in theory we can prevent suicides in youth and adults.We just need to figure out how. That is precisely what we are trying to do: Operationalize Hope.
>Let’s look at the research on hope.
>What is the opposite of hope, and what does the lack of hope do to our society? Check out the latest studies on hopelessness.
As we think you will see, HOPE is the most critical skill we can teach everyone if we want to end partner violence, sexual violence, weapon carrying at school, depression, suicide, anxiety, poverty, economic insecurity, homelessness, and more. If we want to change the fundamental construct of society, we must provide a hope framework to solve these problems; the positive emotion that it is possible, and the behavioral steps that can make it happen.
So please share this site, educate others on hope as a skill that is teachable and a fundamental societal need, and reach out if you want to learn more about adapting the curriculum for your specific population needs.
Our funding has been limited, so we have done our best to start compiling findings around the program thanks to our wonderful partners at Ulster University and incredible group of advisors, as well as analysts. Our goal is to do several RCTs with funding, so if you have connections to sourcing please send them our way.
Our program is free and available to all, and our goal is to continually reiterate to improve on measures and outcomes, based on real-time research. As hopelessness is the primary predictor of suicide, we felt it critical to get this in the market, adapt and learn, and constantly improve. We appreciate your support in this work, and will continue sharing our research here, several of the papers currently in submission for publication and many more being written, and coming.
Hope in an Era of Despair
NI Can teaching Hope improve well-being and protective factors
NI Evaluation of Hopeful Minds 2018
Schools for Hope in Suriname Initial Insights 2015
Comparison US and Suriname Schools for Hope
Schools for Hope Initial US Findings 2015
Schools for Hope Initial US Findings 2014