MENTOR

Overview

The MENTOR project will be implemented in government schools of Bhopal during 2025-2027. The project aim to reduce the incidence of symptoms of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation in 13-17 years old students in urban Bhopal through -

1) Gatekeeper-training of teachers to identify, support and refer students at-risk of mental health concerns,

2) A direct skill-building program for students to enable them to deal with adverse life events and manage stress,

3) A linkage established for at-risk students to visit/seek help from nearby mental health professionals

The rationale

India reports the largest number of suicide deaths globally. The suicidal behavior particularly in adolescent population is quite high and not adequately estimated, due to lack of standard and uniform reporting, stigma and fear of legal consequences, among other reasons. A recent review of 19 studies established a pooled prevalence of 11% for Indian adolescent suicidal thoughts. While there are many effective school-based suicide prevention interventions in high-income countries, those intervention models need contextual adaptation in India. Such as, teacher-gatekeeper training (being deployed by state National Health Mission for schools in Bhopal), building critical skills in students to negotiate with stress and timely referral of at-risk students for professional care. This becomes even more imperative, given the very limited numbers of mental health professionals. Urgent action is needed to adapt and implement evidence-based suicide prevention programs in Indian schools to meet SDG 3.4 i.e. reducing premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention , treatment & promoting Mental Health & Well-being.

Progress till date

·        Notice of award from the funder received.

·        MoU with the NHM, MP under discussion.

Funders and partners

Funder: Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies Foundation, India

Partners: National Health Mission (NHM), Madhya Pradesh, India