Evaluation of School-based Health Promotion Programmes in Bihar, India

Summary

SEHER- Strengthening Evidence base on scHool-based intErventions for pRomoting adolescent health, seeks to develop and evaluate a school based adolescent health promotion intervention delivered by two different delivery agents viz. teacher-as-SEHER Mitra (TSM) and lay school counsellor called as SEHER Mitra (SM) in government-run secondary schools in Bihar, India. SEHER will implement a three armed clustered randomised trial (CRT) to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these two models compared with the Tarang-Adolescence Education Programme (usual care) implemented by the State Government of Bihar. The hypothesis is that both interventions, compared to the control arm, will lead to a greater impact on school climate (school connectedness and relationship with teachers and fellow students). In addition, the interventions will increase the knowledge, attitude and awareness, and promoting healthy behaviours in youth on reproductive and sexual health outcomes, mental health and substance use, and gender related attitudes and violence. It is hypothesized that the addition of more resource intensive component (the SM arm) will be associated with the best outcomes.

Conditions

• Health Promotion

Interventions

OTHER

Tarang Adolescence Education programme

The comparison arm involves 'usual care' which in the study setting is the Tarang: Adolescence Education Programme comprising of 16 classroom sessions on process of growing-up, prevention of HIV/AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), and prevention of substance and other drug abuse. This programme is delivered by a trained nodal teacher in the school over the academic year.

OTHER

SEHER Intervention

The SEHER intervention will be delivered by a trained teacher, called as Teacher-as-SEHER Mitra (Mitra meaning friend) or lay health worker called as SEHER Mitra being trained to facilitate following activities: * Awareness generation activities for all stakeholders in school * Wall-magazine * Speak-out box * Competitions * School Health Promotion Committee * School health policies * Peer groups of students of standard IX * Workshops and talks for all the students from standard IX, and for teachers * Counselling and referral services for all the students in the school This intervention will be delivered in each school over the academic year.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

  collaborator OTHER

• Public Health Foundation of India

  collaborator OTHER

• Sangath

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Vikram Patel, FMedSci · London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK; and Sangath

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

13 Years

Max Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2015-06-30

Primary Completion

2016-03-31

Completion

2016-03-31

Countries

• India

Study Locations