RecruitingNot ApplicableNCT06587230

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

Building Teachers Mental Health Skills to Support Students With Mental Health Needs in Elementary and Middle Schools in North Carolina: Program Implementation and Prospective Data Collection

Sponsor

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Enrollment

312 participants

Start Date

Oct 8, 2024

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Conditions

Depression Mental Health Issue Anxiety Psychosocial Functioning Child Behavior

Summary

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).

Eligibility

Min Age: 5 YearsMax Age: 99 Years

Inclusion Criteria26

Schools:
Have been trained in either Tealeaf or RE-SEED in Summer 2024 or 2025 after being randomized programmatically
Be a school in the State of North Carolina
Have an eligible principal
Principals:
\>18 years old
Employed at an enrolled school
Not suspected or convicted of child-related misconduct or maltreatment
Teachers:
\>18 years old
Employed at an enrolled school
Primary teaching responsibility for a single academic class (for a minimum of 1 hour per day and a minimum of 4 days per week) in any grade level Kindergarten to Grade 8
Not suspected or convicted of child-related misconduct or maltreatment
Counselors:
\>18 years old
Employed at an enrolled school
Hold a school counselor position at an enrolled school for at least 10 hours per week
Not suspected or convicted of child-related misconduct or maltreatment
Students:
Enrolled in Kindergarten-Grade 8
Student of an enrolled teacher
Has a parent or guardian who can provide consent
Positive/Clinical-level score on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)
Guardians:
\>18 years old
Guardian of enrolled student

Interventions

BEHAVIORALTeachers 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.

BEHAVIORALResponding 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.