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A multicomponent secondary school health promotion intervention and adolescent health: An extension of the SEHER cluster randomised controlled trial in Bihar, India.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Strengthening Evidence base on scHool-based intErventions for pRomoting adolescent health (SEHER) is a multicomponent, whole-school health promotion intervention delivered by a lay counsellor or a teacher in government-run secondary schools in Bihar, India. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of the intervention after two years of follow-up and to evaluate the consistency of the findings observed over time. METHODS AND FINDINGS:We conducted a cluster randomised trial in which 75 schools were randomised (1:1:1) to receive the SEHER intervention delivered by a lay counsellor (SEHER Mitra [SM]) or a teacher (Teacher as SEHER Mitra [TSM]), respectively, alongside a standardised, classroom-based life skills Adolescence Education Program (AEP), compared to AEP alone (control group). The trial design was a repeat cross-sectional study. Students enrolled in grade 9 (aged 13-15 years) in the 2015-2016 academic year were exposed to the intervention for two years and the outcome assessment was conducted at three time points?at baseline in June 2015; 8-months follow-up in March 2016, when the students were still in grade 9; and endpoint at 17-months follow-up in December 2016 (when the students were in grade 10), the results of which are presented in this paper. The primary outcome, school climate, was measured with the Beyond Blue School Climate Questionnaire (BBSCQ). Intervention effects were estimated using mixed-effects linear or logistic regression, including a random effect to adjust for within-school clustering, minimisation variables, baseline cluster-level score of the outcome, and sociodemographic characteristics. In total, 15,232 students participated in the 17-month survey. Compared with the control group, the participants in the SM intervention group reported improvements in school climate (adjusted mean difference [aMD] = 7.33; 95% CI: 6.60-8.06; p < 0.001) and most secondary outcomes (depression: aMD = -4.64; 95% CI: -5.83-3.45; p < 0.001; attitude towards gender equity: aMD = 1.02; 95% CI: 0.65-1.40; p < 0.001; frequency of bullying: aMD = -2.77; 95% CI: -3.40 to -2.14; p < 0.001; violence victimisation: odds ratio [OR] = 0.08; 95% CI: 0.04-0.14; p < 0.001; and violence perpetration: OR = 0.16; 95% CI: 0.09-0.29; p < 0.001). There was no evidence of an intervention effect in the TSM group compared with control group. The effects of the lay counsellor-delivered intervention were larger for most outcomes at 17-months follow-up compared with those at 8 months: school climate (effect size [ES; 95% CI] = 2.23 [1.97-2.50] versus 1.88 [1.44-2.32], p < 0.001); depression (ES [95% CI] = -1.19 [-1.56 to -0.82] versus -0.27 [-0.44 to -0.11], p < 0.001); attitude towards gender equity (ES [95% CI] = 0.53 [0.27-0.79] versus 0.23 [0.10-0.36], p < 0.001); bullying (ES [95% CI] = -2.22 [-2.84 to -1.60] versus -0.47 [-0.61 to -0.33], p < 0.001); violence victimisation (OR [95% CI] = 0.08 [0.04-0.14] versus 0.62 [0.46-0.84], p < 0.001); and violence perpetration (OR [95% CI] = 0.16 [0.09-0.29] versus 0.68 [0.48-0.96], p < 0.001), suggesting incremental benefits with an extended intervention. A limitation of the study is that 27% of baseline participants did not complete the 17-month outcome assessment. CONCLUSIONS:The trial showed that the second-year outcomes were similar to the first-year outcomes, with no effect of the teacher-led intervention and larger benefits on school climate and adolescent health accruing from extending lay counsellor-delivered intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02907125.

SUBMITTER: Shinde S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7012396 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A multicomponent secondary school health promotion intervention and adolescent health: An extension of the SEHER cluster randomised controlled trial in Bihar, India.

Shinde Sachin S Weiss Helen A HA Khandeparkar Prachi P Pereira Bernadette B Sharma Amit A Gupta Rajesh R Ross David A DA Patton George G Patel Vikram V

PLoS medicine 20200211 2

<h4>Background</h4>Strengthening Evidence base on scHool-based intErventions for pRomoting adolescent health (SEHER) is a multicomponent, whole-school health promotion intervention delivered by a lay counsellor or a teacher in government-run secondary schools in Bihar, India. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of the intervention after two years of follow-up and to evaluate the consistency of the findings observed over time.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>We conducted a cluster r ...[more]

PMID: 32045409

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Project description:Schools can play an important role in health promotion by improving students' health literacy, attitudes, health-related behaviours, social connection and self-efficacy. These interventions can be particularly valuable in low- and middle-income countries with low health literacy and high burden of disease. However, the existing literature provides poor guidance for the implementation of school-based interventions in low-resource settings. This paper describes the development and pilot testing of a multicomponent school-based health promotion intervention for adolescents in 75 government-run secondary schools in Bihar, India.The intervention was developed in three stages: evidence review of the content and delivery of effective school health interventions; formative research to contextualize the proposed content and delivery, involving intervention development workshops with experts, teachers and students and content analysis of intervention manuals; and pilot testing in situ to optimize its feasibility and acceptability.The three-stage process defined the intervention elements, refining their content and format of delivery. This intervention focused on promoting social skills among adolescents, engaging adolescents in school decision making, providing factual information, and enhancing their problem-solving skills. Specific intervention strategies were delivered at three levels (whole school, student group, and individual counselling) by either a trained teacher or a lay counsellor. The pilot study, in 50 schools, demonstrated generally good acceptability and feasibility of the intervention, though the coverage of intervention activities was lower in the teacher delivery schools due to competing teaching commitments, the participation of male students was lower than that of females, and one school dropped out because of concerns regarding the reproductive and sexual health content of the intervention.This SEHER approach provides a framework for adolescent health promotion in secondary schools in low-resource settings. We are now using a cluster-randomized trial to evaluate its effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.

Project description:ImportanceSchool-based interventions offer an opportunity for health promotion in adolescence.ObjectiveTo assess the effect of 2 multicomponent educational health promotion strategies of differing duration and intensity on adolescents' cardiovascular health (CVH).Design, setting, and participantsThe SI! Program for Secondary Schools is a 4-year cluster randomized clinical intervention trial conducted in 24 secondary schools from Barcelona and Madrid, Spain, from September 7, 2017, to July 31, 2021. Eligible participants were adolescents enrolled in the first grade of secondary school.InterventionsSchools and their participants were randomized to receive a health promotion intervention (SI! Program) over 4 school years (long-term intervention [LTI], 8 schools, 412 adolescents) or 2 school years (short-term intervention [STI], 8 schools, 504 adolescents) or to receive the standard curriculum (control, 8 schools, 441 adolescents).Main outcome and measuresThe primary end point was the between-group difference at 2 and 4 years in the change from baseline of the overall CVH score, as defined by the American Heart Association (range, 0-14 points, with a higher score indicating a healthier CVH profile). Intervention effects were tested with multilevel mixed-effects models. A complete-case intention-to-treat analysis was performed as the primary analysis.ResultsOf the randomized students, the study enrolled 1326 adolescents (684 [51.6%] boys, mean [SD] age, 12.5 [0.4] years at recruitment) with a study completion rate of 86.0%. Baseline overall CVH scores were 10.3 points in the LTI group, 10.6 points in the STI group, and 10.5 points in the control group. After 2 years, at halfway through the LTI and at the end of the STI, the difference in the CVH score change was 0.44 points (95% CI, 0.01-0.87; P = .04) between the LTI group and the control group and 0.18 points (95% CI, -0.25 to 0.61; P = .39) between the STI group and the control group. At 4 years, differences for the LTI and STI groups vs control were 0.12 points (LTI: 95% CI, -0.19 to 0.43; P = .42) and 0.13 points (STI: 95% CI, -0.17 to 0.44; P = .38). No adverse events were reported.Conclusions and relevanceOverall, the tested school-based health promotion strategies in this randomized clinical trial had a neutral effect on the CVH of the adolescents. Although there was evidence of a marginal beneficial effect at a point halfway through implementation in the LTI group, such a benefit was not noted at 4 years. Further research is warranted into the efficacy of school-based health promotion programs.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03504059.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Improving the health and development of adolescents aged 10-19?years is a global health priority. One in five adolescents globally live in India. The Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK), India's national adolescent health strategy, recommends supporting community-based peer educators to conduct group meetings with boys and girls. Groups aim to give adolescents a space to discuss the social and health issues affecting them and build their capacity to become active community members and leaders. There have been no evaluations of the community component of RKSK to date. In this protocol, we describe the evaluation of the Jharkhand Initiative for Adolescent Health (JIAH), a community intervention aligned with RKSK and designed to improve school attendance, dietary diversity and mental health among adolescent girls aged 10-19 years in rural Jharkhand, eastern India. METHODS:The JIAH intervention is delivered by a community youth team consisting of yuva saathis (friends of youth), youth leadership facilitators and livelihood promoters. Teams conduct (a) peer-led Participatory Learning and Action meetings with girls and boys, mobilising adolescents, parents, health workers, teachers and the wider community to make changes for adolescent health and development; (b) group-based youth leadership activities to build adolescents' confidence and resilience; and (c) livelihood promotion with adolescents and their families to provide training and practical skills. We are evaluating the JIAH intervention through a parallel-group, two-arm, superiority, cluster-randomised controlled trial. The unit of randomisation is a geographic cluster of ~1000 people. A total of 38 clusters covering an estimated population of 40,676 have been randomised to control or intervention arms. Nineteen intervention clusters have adolescent groups, youth leadership activities and livelihood promotion. Nineteen control clusters receive livelihood promotion only. Study participants are adolescent girls aged 10-19?years, married or unmarried, in or out of school, living in the study area. Intervention activities are open to all adolescent boys and girls, regardless of their participation in surveys. We will collect data through baseline and endline surveys. Primary trial outcomes are school attendance, dietary diversity and internalising and externalising mental health problems. Secondary outcomes include access to school-related entitlements, emotional or physical violence, self-efficacy and resilience. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ISRCTN17206016. Registered on 27 June 2018.

Project description:BackgroundSecondary education and delayed marriage provide long-term socio-economic and health benefits to adolescent girls. We tested whether a structural and norms-based intervention, which worked with adolescent girls, their families, communities, and secondary schools to address poverty, schooling quality and gender norms, could reduce secondary school drop-out and child marriage among scheduled-caste/scheduled-tribe (SC/ST) adolescent girls in rural settings of southern India.Methods80 of 121 villages in Vijayapura and Bagalkote districts, Karnataka State, were randomly selected (control = 40; intervention = 40). All 12-13 year-old SC/ST girls in final year of primary school (standard 7th) were enrolled and followed for 3 years (2014-2017) until the end of secondary school (standard 10th). Primary trial outcomes were proportion of girls who completed secondary school and were married, by trial end-line (15-16 years). Analyses were intention-to-treat and used individual-level girl data.Results92.6% (2275/2457) girls at baseline and 72.8% (1788/2457) at end-line were interviewed. At end-line, one-fourth had not completed secondary school (control = 24.9%; intervention = 25.4%), and one in ten reported being married (control = 9.6%; intervention = 10.1%). These were lower than expected based on district-level data available before the trial, with no difference between these, or other schooling or sexual and reproductive outcomes, by trial arm. There was a small but significant increase in secondary school entry (adjusted odds ratio AOR = 3.58, 95% confidence interval CI = 1.36-9.44) and completion (AOR=1.54, 95%CI = 1.02-2.34) in Vijayapura district. The sensitivity and attrition analyses did not impact the overall result indicating that attrition of girls at end-line was random without much bearing on overall result.ConclusionsSamata intervention had no overall impact, however, it added value in one of the two implementation districts- increasing secondary school entry and completion. Lower than expected school drop-out and child marriage rates at end-line reflect strong secular changes, likely due to large-scale government initiatives to keep girls in school and delay marriage. Although government programmes may be sufficient to reach most girls in these settings, a substantial proportion of SC/ST girls remain at-risk of early marriage and school drop-out, and require targeted programming. Addressing multiple forms of clustered disadvantage among hardest to reach will be key to ensuring India "leaves no-one behind" and achieves its gender, health and education Sustainable Development Goal aspirations.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov registration number NCT01996241.

Project description:BackgroundIn Australia, secondary school educators are well positioned to recognize mental illness among students and provide support. However, many report that they lack the knowledge and confidence to do so, and few mental health training programs available for educators are evidence based. To address this gap, the Black Dog Institute (BDI) developed a web-based training program (Building Educators' Skills in Adolescent Mental Health [BEAM]) that aims to improve mental health knowledge, confidence, and helping behaviors among secondary school educators in leadership positions. A pilot study of the training program found it to be positively associated with increased confidence and helping behaviors among educators and reduced personal psychological distress. An adequately powered randomized controlled trial (RCT) is needed.ObjectiveThe primary objective of this cluster RCT is to evaluate the effectiveness of the BEAM program for improving educators' confidence in managing student mental health. The trial will also evaluate the effect of the BEAM program in increasing educators' frequency of providing help to students and improving their mental health knowledge and reducing educators' psychological distress and stigma toward students with mental health issues.MethodsThe target sample size is 234 educators from 47 secondary schools across New South Wales, Australia. Four waves of recruitment and enrollment into the trial are planned. Schools will participate in one wave only and will be randomized to the intervention or waitlist control conditions. Participants from the same school will be assigned to the same condition. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, posttest (10 weeks after baseline), and follow-up (22 weeks after baseline) using the BDI eHealth research platform. Intervention participants will receive access to the BEAM program for 10 weeks upon completion of baseline, and the control condition will receive access for 10 weeks upon completion of the follow-up assessment.ResultsRecruitment for this trial began on July 21, 2020, with the first baseline assessments occurring on August 17, 2020. To date, 295 participants from 71 schools have completed baseline. Due to the unexpected success of recruitment in the first 3 waves, the final fourth wave has been abandoned. Intervention participants are currently receiving the program, with follow-up due for completion in March 2021.ConclusionsThis is one of the first RCTs to examine the effectiveness of a web-based adolescent mental health training program for Australian secondary school educators in leadership positions. If found to be effective, this training program will offer a sustainable and scalable delivery method for upskilling educators in caring for students' mental health.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12620000876998; https://covid-19.cochrane.org/studies/crs-14669208.International registered report identifier (irrid)DERR1-10.2196/25870.

Project description:Background The objective of this study was to assess the impact of self-help groups (SHGs) and subsequent scale-up on reproductive, maternal, newborn, child health, and nutrition (RMNCHN) and sanitation outcomes among marginalised women in Bihar, India from 2014-2017. Methods We examined RMNCHN and sanitation behaviors in women who were members of any SHGs compared to non-members, without differentiating between types of SHGs. We analysed annual surveys across 38 districts of Bihar covering 62?690 women who had a live birth in the past 12 months. All analyses utilised data from Community-based Household Surveys (CHS) rounds 6-9 collected in 2014-2017 by CARE India as part of the Bihar Technical Support Program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. We examined 66 RMNCHN and sanitation indicators using survey logistic regression; the comparison group in all cases was age-comparable women from the geographic contexts of the SHG members but who did not belong to SHGs. We also examined links between discussion topics in SHGs and changes in relevant behaviours, and stratification of effects by parity and mother’s age. Results SHG members had higher odds compared to non-SHG members for 60% of antenatal care indicators, 22% of delivery indicators, 70% of postnatal care indicators, 50% of nutrition indicators, 100% of family planning and sanitation indicators and no immunisation indicators measured. According to delivery platform, most FLW performance indicators (80%) had increased odds, followed by maternal behaviours (57%) and facility care and outreach service delivery (22%) compared to non-SHG members. Self-report of discussions within SHGs on specific topics was associated with increased related maternal behaviours. Younger SHG members (<25 years) had attenuated health indicators compared to older group members (?25 years), and women with more children had more positive indicators compared to women with fewer children. Conclusions SHG membership was associated with improved RMNCHN and sanitation indicators at scale in Bihar, India. Further work is needed to understand the specific impacts of health layering upon SHGs. Working through SHGs is a promising vehicle for improving primary health care. Study registration ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT02726230.

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A multicomponent secondary school health promotion intervention and adolescent health: An extension of the SEHER cluster randomised controlled trial in Bihar, India.

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A multicomponent secondary school health promotion intervention and adolescent health: An extension of the SEHER cluster randomised controlled trial in Bihar, India.

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