Efficacy of Teacher-delivered Child Mental Healthcare in Primary Schools of India

Tealeaf is a task-shifting intervention in which teachers deliver transdiagnostic mental health care. Mental health challenges are understood through basic functional behavior assessments, providing a framework for the analysis of observable behaviors. Teachers deliver care primarily through the incorporation of basic therapeutic interactions into classroom instruction time, supplemented by one-on-one interactions with the child and family. Teachers receive ongoing supervision and support from the intervention team including monthly site visits supplemented by monthly and as-needed telephone discussions.

Enhanced Usual Care (EUC) is a less intensive version of the Tealeaf intervention. The EUC service package has been designed to be the most intensive form of care that could be envisioned as viable in the study setting in the foreseeable future without a significant increase in resource investment.