Training and Supervising Lay Providers in Kenya: Strategies and Mixed-Methods Outcomes☆☆☆

ObjectiveTraining lay providers to deliver mental health interventions is both effective and cost-effective. However, more research is needed to document training and supervision procedures and to collect lay providers’ feedback.MethodsThis study documents training and supervision from a randomized controlled trial of the Shamiri intervention, a four-session, school-based intervention that significantly reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression in Kenyan adolescents. We delivered a 10-hour training to 13 lay providers, M (SD)_age = 21.00 (1.95), %_female = 61.54. We also hosted 30-minute supervision meetings twice weekly. Training and supervision were delivered primarily by undergraduates. Independent raters coded session recordings for fidelity and quality of services, and we collected quantitative and qualitative feedback from lay providers.ResultsReliability and mean ratings for all six of our fidelity and quality measures (delivering required content, adhering to specified details, thoroughness, skillfulness, clarity, and purity) were very good to excellent. Lay provider quantitative ratings of training were also overwhelmingly positive, with an overall satisfaction rating of 6.46/7.00. We identified central qualitative themes in lay provider comments: Generally, comments about training style, content, and personal interactions were overwhelmingly positive, and many lay providers reported personal growth. Comments about timing and location of training were mixed.ConclusionsThis study provides preliminary evidence that a very brief training delivered primarily by undergraduates can teach high school-graduate lay providers to deliver effective mental health interventions. Additionally, we discuss lessons learned and implications for future research, including the importance of considering local context when planning and of continuously collecting and addressing lay provider feedback.     

Women Creating Public Art and Community, 2000–2014

This narrative describes a series of 15 short‐term public art projects that were part of a program for women and girls in Lowell, Massachusetts, a mid‐size city in the United States. The projects were designed to give public space to women’s stories and perspectives by exhibiting their creative art in response to suggested themes. A few thousand women and girls representing diverse age and cultural groups created art based on their lived experiences. The organizers of the program met people in comfortable settings, tailored their art‐making approaches to particular groups, and used inclusive processes in developing and executing the program. Program successes and challenges were related to the organizational structure of the art projects, the annual themes and art media, the extent of outreach and support, the process of creation, and the impact of art exhibits. Using community psychology and feminist frameworks, authors reflect on the projects and their relevance across contexts, highlight key organizing strategies, and identify ways the project represents community psychology in action.