Mental health awareness amongst school students across Delhi-NCR: A pilot study

Pages: 382-387
Sanya Dhawan and S. Kaushik (Member, Research and Development Team, Youre Wonderful Project, New Delhi)
Arushi Chatterjee and Shivangi Khattar (Head, Research and Development Team, Youre Wonderful Project, New Delhi)
Akhilesh Nair, Akash Saxena, and Ambikesh Sharma (Founder, Youre Wonderful Project, New Delhi)

The present study was aimed at initiating a conversation about the importance of mental health among school children. This project has been founded with the aim to equip 6th-8th graders with the knowledge of common mental health issues through the process of: a) creating awareness, b) encouraging acceptance, c) ensuring prevention and d) assisting with cure. For this study, a qualitative design was used. A questionnaire was developed that aimed at identifying the gaps between the current SPEAK module (the module curated by the You’re Wonderful Project; to deliver workshops around mental health awareness amongst the school students) and the needs of the school children. The data was collected from 106 participants. The participants were recruited as volunteers for the SPEAK program who would deliver workshops in different schools across Delhi-NCR,they came from different backgrounds like Psychology, English, History, among others, and were adults between the ages of 18-45. The qualitative data collected from the participants was analysed using content analysis. Effort was made to extract the major issues faced by the school children as listed by the participants. The results indicated that the major themes identified as per the school workshops by the volunteers delivering the workshops were bullying, issues related to exam, anxiety related to academic issues, and issues related to family. In addition, more information on how to better conduct the workshop and engage with the students, was also noted during this process. This study is a pilot study that will further help to understand how to ensure the effectiveness of the SPEAK program, as well as conduct more enhanced workshops around mental health awareness among school students.