Development and Validation of a Culturally Tailored Mental Health Literacy Training Program for Indian School Teachers

Abstract Baclground: School teachers are the first responders in the early detection and referral of students with mental health issues and there is an urgent need for Mental Health Literacy training to support this. Childhood and adolescent mental health has emerged as a national health problem, so there is a need to plan an intervention program on mental health literacy for teachers in the schools of India as there are very few planned interventions. Objective: To design and test an intervention package for school teachers regarding mental health literacy. Materials and Methods: The training module on mental health literacy for school teachers was developed through a needs assessment, by conducting in-depth interviews with school teachers (n = 12), gathering experts' opinions on the content for the training manual (n = 12), and content validation of the training manual by experts (n = 7). Content validation index and kappa value was used for validation of the manual. Participants: School teachers were targeted in the development of the components of the training manual to orient them to mental health and mental illness, and to prepare them to manage school children with behavioural and mental health disorders and know when to refer. The contents covered the introduction to mental health and mental disorders, myths and stigma related to mental illness, common developmental, behavioural and mental health disorders in children, role of teachers, mental health first aid, and seeking help and finding support. The Kappa value was modified (K = 0.932) and showed that the content was very relevant to use for school teachers. Conclusion: School teachers' mental health literacy programs in India are vital interventions to address the mental health crisis in the country. With the development of structured MHL modules, India can start to overcome this huge treatment gap by enabling educators to become effective early intervention points.