Sangath IMGs 2024-25 List

The project aimed to strengthen mental health research capacity among students and early-career researchers from low-resource institutions by co-creating a participatory curriculum with researchers, educators, and community stakeholders. Through a comprehensive needs assessment and collaborative curriculum development process, the project designed a workshop curriculum that integrates community-based approaches, social change perspectives, and practical research skills. The initiative also fostered partnerships with universities to support future implementation and wider adoption. 

Project Highlights: 

• Established a multidisciplinary advisory group to guide curriculum development. 

• Conducted a stakeholder-informed needs assessment to identify priority learning areas. 

• Developed a workshop curriculum manual for mental health research capacity strengthening. 

• Engaged three universities, with two expressing strong interest in future implementation. 

• Identified funding opportunities to pilot, evaluate, and scale the curriculum.

The project strengthened schools' capacity to address cyberbullying and promote adolescent mental well-being by training teachers and developing a context-specific educational resource. In collaboration with cyber safety experts and psychologists, the project created a comprehensive training manual and conducted a two-day capacity-building workshop for teachers. By equipping educators with knowledge and practical strategies, the initiative enabled schools to raise awareness among students and foster safer digital environments.

Project Highlights: 

• Trained approximately 20 teachers from 11 schools in Bhopal. 

• Developed a context-specific training manual on cyberbullying and adolescent mental health. 

• Increased teachers' awareness and confidence in addressing online harassment and supporting students. 

• Approximately 1,000 students received awareness through sessions conducted by trained teachers. 

• Created a scalable school-based model for promoting digital safety and mental well-being.

The project aimed to empower young people in Goa to lead substance use awareness initiatives through a youth-led, co-created approach. Working closely with students, the team developed STRIDE (Strengthening Teens' Resolve in Drug Education), a practical campaign model that enables young people to design and implement substance use prevention activities within their own institutions and communities. Through co-production workshops, pilot campaigns, and interactive learning activities, the project promoted informed decision-making, harm reduction, peer support, and help-seeking, while creating sustainable resources that can be adapted and scaled across diverse settings.

Project Highlights:

• Developed the "Take a STRIDE" DIY Handbook to support youth-led awareness campaigns.

• Conducted co-production workshops involving 12 young people to co-design campaign strategies.

• Successfully implemented pilot campaigns in two colleges across Goa. 

• Engaged over 320 college students and trained 15 student campaign leaders. 

• Established a scalable, youth-led model for substance use prevention and community engagement.

The project focused on improving the psychological well- being of parents of children with autism by developing a structured self-care intervention tailored to the needs of underserved communities. Through a contextual needs assessment conducted with caregivers, the project co-created workshop materials and practical self-care resources grounded in solution-focused approaches and cognitive behavioural therapy. The pilot workshop provided parents with strategies to manage stress, build coping skills, and prioritise their own well-being while caring for their children. 

Project Highlights:

• Conducted a contextual needs assessment to understand caregiver experiences and priorities. 

• Developed workshop booklets, self-care activities, consent forms, and feedback tools. 

• Successfully piloted the intervention with mothers of children with autism, receiving positive participant feedback.

• Created a practical self-care resource that can support future caregiver programs. 

• Established a foundation for expanding the intervention through future funding opportunities.

This project explored how existing social networks within communities can be leveraged to reduce mental health stigma and encourage help-seeking behaviours. Through awareness sessions conducted in primary health centres and community settings, the project increased understanding of common mental health concerns while providing opportunities for brief consultations with mental health professionals. The initiative also identified influential community members, particularly Anganwadi workers, as key facilitators for promoting awareness and strengthening pathways to care. 

Project Highlights: 

• Reached more than 1,500 community members through awareness activities.

• Conducted 64 awareness sessions across primary health centres and community settings. 

• Referred over 50 individuals to nearby PHCs and affordable hospitals for required health support and care. 

• Demonstrated the value of community and occupational networks in reducing stigma and promoting help-seeking. 

• Generated insights to inform future community-based mental health interventions and family-centred support programs.