Teachers Leading the Front Lines - North Carolina (Tealeaf-NC)

Conditions studied

Child Behavior, Mental Health Issue, Psychosocial Functioning, Depression, Anxiety

About this study

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to pilot test a novel, alternative, potentially sustainable system of teacher-delivered, task-shifted child mental health care. Participants: \~300 estimated Procedures: This is a RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) guided, mixed methods, clustered evaluation of Tealeaf-NC's Reach, Adoption \& Implementation (Primary Outcomes, implementation-based), as well as evaluating for preliminary indicators of Effectiveness \& Maintenance (Secondary Outcomes, clinically-based).

Interventions

• Behavioral: Teachers Leading the Frontlines — 1. During 3-day training, Knowledge and attitudes toward child mental health care are measured pre-training, post-training, and post-intervention. 2. The teachers select students whom they believe have the highest mental health needs to receive care. 3. Teachers analyze chosen students' symptoms. 4. Teachers analyze students' behavior with the AABC Chart. 5. Teachers develop a targeted response using a behavior plan called the 4Cs plan (Cause, Change, Connect, and Cultivate). In the 4Cs, teachers select therapeutic techniques to deliver from a menu of evidence-based therapeutic options for each category of behavior. 6. Throughout the year, teachers receive supervision through monthly site visits supplemented by as-needed telephone and digital discussions to guide their care from the study team. Teachers encourage the use of the 4Cs plan at home.
• Behavioral: Responding to Students' Emotions Through Education — All processes for RE-SEED are the same as in Tealeaf except... 1. Teachers receive only 1 day of training 2. The study team does not provide supervision to the teachers, allowing only the school counselor to provide supervision This less resource-intensive approach will allow for an ethical comparator to Tealeaf, where the schools would like for teachers to have some skills to support identified students.

Primary outcomes

• Mean Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM) Scores (Month 0, Month 9)
• Mean Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM) Scores (Month 0, Month 9)
• Mean Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM) Scores (Month 0, Month 9)
• Mean Cause Analysis Chart (AABC) Evaluation Checklist Scores (Month 9)
• Mean 4Cs Behavior Plan Evaluation Checklist Scores (Month 9)
• Mean One-on-One Student Interaction Evaluation Tool Scores (Month 9)
• Mean One-on-One Family Interaction Evaluation Tool Scores (Month 9)