PRESENCE

Overview

This program will deploy a universal resilience focused intervention for adolescents to protect against future mental health adversity, a sports-based intervention for life skills and prevention of substance abuse and school-embedded mental health promotion program through series of workshops focused on students, teachers and parents.

Rationale

India faces rising adolescent mental health burden, including anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.

Schools offer a key setting for early intervention programs. The PRESENCE program promotes adolescent mental health & wellbeing by:

• Fostering psychological resilience, enabling the adolescents to acquire essential skills to cope with stress and thrive in face of challenges.

• Use of sports-based strategies to learn skills of dealing with peer pressure and prevent substance use.

• Mental health promotion workshops focused on adolescents, teachers, parents and other stakeholders to increase awareness and reduce stigma.