Mobile-supported, teacher-led resilience program for youth in Sierra Leone schools
Advancing mHealth-supported Adoption and Sustainment of an Evidence-based Mental Health Intervention for Youth in a School-based Delivery Setting in Sierra Leone
Teachers will use WhatsApp and a phone app to deliver a proven afterschool mental health program to help adolescents in Sierra Leone build resilience.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Brown University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Providence, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11118971 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would join an extracurricular afterschool resilience group run by trained teachers at your school. Teachers get supervision either in person or through mobile tools (WhatsApp plus a new mHealth app) that include voice guides, checklists, training videos, and dashboards. The project compares the mobile supervision approach to standard in-person supervision to see which helps teachers deliver the program more faithfully and sustainably. The work follows an implementation science framework to fit the program into local school settings and track outcomes for students.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: School-aged adolescents in Sierra Leone who can attend afterschool YRI sessions at participating schools are the ideal candidates.
Not a fit: Adults, children outside the target age range, or students at schools not participating in the program are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, more adolescents could get reliable, school-based mental health support using teacher-led groups enhanced by phone tools.
How similar studies have performed: The Youth Readiness Intervention is evidence-based and prior mHealth tools have supported lay worker fidelity, but combining teacher delivery with mobile supervision in Sierra Leone is a newer approach.
Where this research is happening
Providence, United States
- Brown University — Providence, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Desrosiers, Alethea — Brown University
- Study coordinator: Desrosiers, Alethea
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.