Mental Health LiteracyNCT06087159
Promoting Mental Health of Teachers and Caregiver Using a Personalized mHealth Toolkit in Uganda
A study testing mHealth Toolkit for Wellness & Empowering Lives of School Community (mWEL) in people with Mental Health Literacy and Depression, Anxiety, run by NYU Langone Health at 2 sites in Uganda.
Trial summary
This study record describes a two-phase of clinical trial study. The first phase is a pilot study phase (to study feasibility and efficacy of the intervention), and the second phase is an effectiveness study phase (a fully powered evaluation study to test the intervention effectiveness). Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Mental Health Literacy, Depression, Anxiety
- What is being tested?
- mHealth Toolkit for Wellness & Empowering Lives of School Community (mWEL)
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 1,180 participants
- Where
- 2 sitesUganda
- Study dates
- 22 Apr 2026to 31 Jan 2028
- Phase
- Interventional
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
None listed.
Who cannot join
- Evidence of psychopathology or cognitive impairment severe enough to preclude giving consent, or completing the survey instruments or the focus group of the study.
- Parents/Teachers/Caregivers who are not in one of our recruited primary school
- Participants under the age of 18
- Participant who does not speak English and Luganda will not be able to participate
Trial locations and contacts
2 sites in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Uganda2 sites, 2 recruiting
- Recruiting
Study Site
Kampala
- Recruiting
Study Site
Nakaseke
About this study
Official title: Promoting Mental Health of Teachers and Caregivers Using a Personalized mHealth Toolkit in Uganda
This study record describes a two-phase of clinical trial study. The first phase is a pilot study phase (to study feasibility and efficacy of the intervention), and the second phase is an effectiveness study phase (a fully powered evaluation study to test the intervention effectiveness). This proposal seeks to develop and test a new mHealth intervention, the mHealth Toolkit for Wellness \& Empowering Lives of School Community (mWEL) in Uganda. The mWEL-digial toolkit is a preventive intervention tool for teachers and parents as a self-help support modality. Caregivers who need support in navigating the toolkit will be supported by peer-community health workers (P-CHWs).
Read the detailed description
During the first phase (from 11-01-2024 to 8-15-2025), a cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) with 8 schools (4 intervention and 4 wait-list control schools) including 160 caregivers (80 teachers and 80 parents) is conducted. The aim of the pilot RCT is to pilot test the implementation process, feasibility, acceptability, usage patterns, and efficacy of the mWEL. The investigators hypothesize that: 1) relative to the control, caregivers receiving the mWEL will have better efficacy outcomes (mental health literacy, and mental health outcomes); and 2) mWEL implementation will have high acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility.
During the second phase (from 10-01-2025 to 08-31-2028), the optimized version of mWEL toolkit will be further tested for effectiveness using a cRCT and a matched-pair randomization method. The sample will be recruited from urban and rural schools. In intervention schools, participants will engage with the mWEL toolkit through group sessions or one-on-one support with Peer-Community Health Workers (P-CHWs). Control schools will receive general and non-mental health related health literacy information, and without any tailored support. Impacts on caregivers' health literacy and their mental health (anxiety, depression) will be evaluated (n=1000, 500 parents and 500 teachers in 24 schools, with 12 intervention and 12 wait-list control). The investigators hypothesize that: 1) relative to control, teachers and parents receiving mWEL will have better effectiveness outcomes (i.e., mental health literacy, and mental health outcomes; and 2) similar effectiveness findings for urban/rural schools and for male/female.
- Conditions
- Mental Health Literacy, Depression, Anxiety
- Being tested
- mHealth Toolkit for Wellness & Empowering Lives of School Community (mWEL)
- Medical subject headings
- Depression, Anxiety Disorders
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
mHealth Toolkit for Wellness & Empowering Lives of School Community (mWEL)Behavioural
mWEL-App is a preventive intervention tool for teachers and parents as a self-help support. It integrates three key mental health presentive service functions: i) comprehensive screen to assess mental health (anxiety, depression), stress, and related contextual risks; ii) a tailored strength and weakness profile/report with recommendations to promote self-awareness and mental health knowledge; and iii) tailored evidence-based strategies and additional support and clinical resources to improve skills in stress management, emotion regulation, and maintain mental wellness. mWEL will be designed as a self-administered tool. Participating parents and teachers can access to mWEL app after they sign up for an account. Intervention participants will have access to the App anytime within a 3-5 month study period.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| mWEL Intervention (Phase 1 and Phase 2) | Experimental | Teachers or parents of children in participating schools who are randomly assigned to receive the mWEL intervention. Receives: Behavioral: mHealth Toolkit for Wellness & Empowering Lives of School Community (mWEL) |
| Control (Phase 1 and Phase 2) | No intervention | Teachers or parents of children in participating schools who are randomly assigned to the control arm. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Change in Universal Mental Health Literacy Scale Score
The Universal Mental Health Literacy Scale comprises 21 items asking respondents to indicate their knowledge of various aspects regarding mental health. Items are rated on Yes/No or 5-point Likert scales. The total score is produced by mean of all item scores and ranges from 1-5 or % correct knowledge; higher scores indicate greater mental health literacy
Measured: Baseline, Month 5
Change in PHQ-9 Score
The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) is a widely used self-administered tool designed to screen, diagnose, and monitor the severity of depression in individuals. It consists of nine questions that align directly with the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder in the DSM-5. Each item asks about the frequency of specific depressive symptoms experienced over the past two weeks (on a 0 to 3 point Likert scales), such as low mood, loss of interest, sleep problems, fatigue, appetite changes, feelings of worthlessness, trouble concentrating, psychomotor changes, and thoughts of self-harm or suicide. The total score ranges from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating more severe depression. Severity is typically interpreted as follows:
0-4: None to minimal depression 5-9: Mild depression 10-14: Moderate depression 15-19: Moderately severe depression 20-27: Severe depression
Measured: Baseline, Month 5
Change in GAD-7 Anxiety Score
The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) is a brief, self-administered questionnaire designed to screen for and assess the severity of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms over the past two weeks. The scale is rated on a 0 to 3 point Likert scales). The total GAD-7 score ranges from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety severity. Severity is commonly interpreted as:
0-4: Minimal anxiety 5-9: Mild anxiety 10-14: Moderate anxiety 15-21: Severe anxiety
Less than 55 = None to slight depression 55.0-59.9 = Mild depression 60.0-69.9 = Moderate depression 70 and over = Severe depression
Measured: Baseline, Month 5
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted17 Oct 2023
- Study start22 Apr 2026
- Primary completion1 Aug 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion31 Jan 2028 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Mental Health LiteracyStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by NYU Langone HealthThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 1,180 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- NYU Langone Health
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Keng-Yen Huang, PhD, MPH, Principal investigator, NYU Langone Health
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06087159
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 23-00600
- Status last verified
- Jul 2026
- First submitted
- 11 Oct 2023
- Last updated
- 22 Jul 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: The de-identified participant data from the final research dataset used in the published manuscript will be shared upon reasonable request beginning 9 months and ending 36 months following article publication or as required by a condition of awards and agreements supporting the research provided the investigator who proposes to use the data executes a data use agreement with NYU Langone Health. Requests may be directed to: Keng-Yen.Huang@nyulangone.org The protocol and statistical analysis plan will be made available on Clinicaltrials.gov only as required by federal regulation or as a condition of awards and agreements supporting the research.