Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Improving the care of people living with a range of mental health conditions through community health workers in India and the US. A key component of the program is a suite of NIH funded projects addressing the needs of adults with depression (ESSENCE, IMPRESS and OPTIMISING). Another major component of the program is EMPOWER, which seeks to use digital tools for building a community based workforce to deliver evidence based psychosocial interventions (see the separate entry for this opportunity for more details). Several other types of research are also in progress, such as the design and evaluation of digital tools for assessment of early childhood cognitive development and detect neurodevelopmental disorders (STREAM). More information can be found here https://mentalhealthforalllab.hms.harvard.edu/ Most of the global research is conducted in India, in partnership with Sangath (www.sangath.in) in one of three sites: Goa, New Delhi and Bhopal. Diverse roles are offered, including experience of community health care, digital innovations for training health care providers (also see the separate listing for the EMPOWER opportunity), clinical cohorts and randomized controlled trials, psychological therapies and data analysis and writing papers.

Psychosocial interventions are amongst the most effective, and preferred, treatment options for a range of mental health conditions. Lack of skilled human resources is a major barrier restricting the ability of health care systems to deliver these interventions. Our team is building a digital platform called EMPOWER through which front line providers can learn, master, and deliver evidence-based psychosocial interventions. EMPOWER embraces the accompaniment model, which entails a life long learning journey. Our current projects are: 1. In the US and India: Skill building digital curriculum for frontline workers on brief evidence-based psychological treatment to address adults suffering from depression. Curriculum available in English, Spanish and Hindi. 2. In the US: enhance and augment the digital curriculum to address depression, for frontline workers to be able to assess and address social determinants of mental health and to reduce psychosocial distress associated with adversity and difficult life experiences. 3. In the US and India: Joint curriculum development to digitally train peers with lived experience to support social recovery for people suffering from severe mental illness. 4. In the US: Curriculum development for community and school workers to be digitally trained in transdiagnostic interventions to address adolescents’ mood and anxiety disorders in school settings. 5. In the US: Engaging in co-creation and community-based participatory research with individuals living with severe mental illness to develop, evaluate, and implement a scalable program for addressing risk factors for early mortality, social determinants of health, and promoting mental and physical wellbeing in this vulnerable patient population. 6. In the US: Engaging faith leaders in adapting and integrating evidence-based psychosocial interventions within places of worship and for reaching at-risk individuals facing challenges of mental illness within unconventional settings, including faith-based communities. 7. In South Asia: Curriculum development to digitally train frontline workers in a parental-mediated intervention for autism spectrum disorder. Opportunities for students: 1. Conduct scoping review: to identify active ingredients to be included in the digital curriculum, and the evidence on their effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability for the target audience 2. Scope the range of providers: to identify the range of potential providers, their settings of work, and their training, roles and skills 3. Assess provider views about the intervention and elaborate implementation pathway for the curriculum: to inform the curriculum, the selection of key ingredients, the framework of the curriculum, the role plays and its scenarios and main characters; chart the pathway for the delivery of training and subsequent capacity development for providers 4. Evaluate the acceptability of the curriculum to the target audience: by gathering feedback on the curriculum, its acceptability, navigation process, and overall engagement 5. Support the use of qualitative and quantitative methods, including focus group discussions, interviews, and surveys to capture the insights and recommendations from target stakeholder groups 6. Adapt the EQUIP (WHO) standardized competency assessment role plays and rating sheets, including adapting the scenarios, patient description, role plays and rating sheets to curriculum, aimed to assess the level of skills mastered by trainees 7. Evaluate the acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness of the training, and the knowledge and skills assessment 8. Cultural Adaptation: Apply a standard operating procedure for adapting the training to different contexts and cultures 9. Evaluate the acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness of remotely delivered peer supervision of the quality of the delivery of psychosocial interventions. 10. Support the preparation of presentations, written reports, and manuscripts describing project activities and to support dissemination of project findings. We are seeking students who are: 1. Interested in global health delivery and health equity 2. Able to work collaboratively and independently with individuals from diverse backgrounds 3. Resourceful and eager to learn methods for scaling up mental health care We offer: 1. Diverse learning opportunities in research methods related to global health delivery 2. Support and supervision from experienced researchers in global mental health 3. Opportunities to author research papers and reports 4. Opportunities to work with diverse stakeholders