Yuva Spandana, meaning "responding to youth," is a groundbreaking youth mental health promotion program conceived and implemented in Karnataka, aligning with Youth Policy 2012. Jointly executed by the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports, Govt of Karnataka, with technical support from NIMHANS. The program encompasses sensitization sessions, guidance, and referral services addressing six pivotal youth-related issues: education and academics, safety, health and lifestyle, personality development, relationships, gender, sex, and sexuality. It targets youth aged 15-35 years. A robust computerized monitoring and information system was used to collect real-time data from the field. Presently, discussions are ongoing for its nationwide expansion. The program reaches 1-2 lakh youth monthly through sensitization programs.

SAMA- Safeguarding Adolescent Mental Health in India is a feasibility study jointly conducted by NIMHANS and the University of Leeds, targeting anxiety and depression among school-going adolescent children in India using a system approach. The intervention consists of eight work packages: SAMA for students, SAMA for teachers, SAMA for parents, SAMA for schools, health economics, research to policy, filming, and a social media campaign. Additionally, a novel approach of a Youth Advisory Board was set up for the project. Pre-post and follow-up assessments were done, and now we are in the stage of implementing this project for a trial.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Mutharaju Arelingaiah is Ph.D. in Psychiatric Social Work from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, 2019. Currently, he is a research manager at Project SAMA, NIMHANS, Banglore. He has published 22 articles and five books.