GreenWood Mentors works internationally to help charities and organisations maximise their impact. We provide mentoring, research and training to improve services for children and young people. Since 2006, we have offered pro bono support to the Indian NGO Dream A Dream.
Thriving in Adversity
Equipping children and young people with life skills in the developing world
It is possible and effective to train people with no mental health background to build life skills with children and young people living in adversity. Two recent Randomised Controlled Trials conducted by Fiona Kennedy, Dave Pearson, Katherine Newman-Taylor and Dream A Dream have shown large effect sizes for even brief interventions.
The challenges and our response
Severe adversity is linked to damaged development and mental health issues. “Failure to thrive”, indicated by stunted growth or wasting, affects roughly 160 million children in India. It is characterised by cognitive deficits, behavioural and emotional regulation problems, insecure and disorganised attachment, and post-traumatic responding.
In India, education and parenting are often focused on rote learning and correction. Over the last 14 years, working with Dream A Dream, we have shifted practice to emphasise secure attachment, acceptance and positive reinforcement of life skills. These values underpin sports, arts, mentoring, teacher training and work-readiness programmes. Even interventions as short as four weeks have shown dramatic effects.
Watch Dr David Pearson talk about failure to thrive and the needs of young people
Measuring Outcomes: the Life Skills Assessment Scale (LSAS)
We developed the LSAS to measure outcomes specific to children and young people from adversity in developing countries. It is simple to use with large groups over a few hours, focusing on life skills rather than mental health symptoms or educational attainment.
Life Skills are the abilities that support psychosocial competence – effectively dealing with the demands and challenges of everyday life (Birrell et al., 1997). The LSAS items were developed using focus groups and the ten WHO life skills. Two validation studies (Kennedy et al., 2014; Pearson et al., 2020) with 1,600 children and young people aged 8–16 years showed the scale has good reliability and validity.
The LSAS can be used for impact assessment by donors, organisations, programme developers, facilitators, teachers and children themselves. It is now in use across India, Africa and other developing countries.
Download and read more about the LSAS:
Download the LSAS and use it for free
Useful videos on how to use the scale here
Read the LSAS academic paper on 8–16 year olds
Read the LSAS academic paper on 17–22 year olds
Research and Evidence
We assessed the impact of two attachment-informed Dream A Dream programmes designed to address developmental skills delayed by early adversity: After School Sports and Arts, and Career Connect, a work-readiness programme for young adults.
Study 1 recruited around 1,200 disadvantaged children aged 9–15 into the after-school intervention run by local facilitators over one year. Schools were matched and allocated to intervention or non-intervention. Significant differences between groups accounted for 56% of the variance.
Study 2 recruited around 650 socially disadvantaged young adults aged 17–22 to the 25-day Career Connect intervention. They were alternately allocated to the programme or a wait list control. Significant differences accounted for 64% of the variance.
The results show that NGO programmes can be routinely evaluated, attachment-informed psychosocial interventions can be delivered by local facilitators and disseminated widely, and these interventions address the cognitive, affective and interpersonal developmental deficits associated with serious early adversity.
Dr Katherine Newman-Taylor describes the research
Read the RCT evaluating after-school programmes for children here
Read the RCT evaluating work readiness programmes for young people here
Impact on Dream A Dream
Suchetha Bhat, CEO of Dream A Dream, describes the contribution of theoretical knowledge about adversity and failure to thrive as a “light bulb moment”. Understanding the psychological challenges allowed staff and partners to respond with compassion, create secure attachment and positive reinforcement, and move away from a culture of obedience to authority.
Over 14 years the organisation has embodied these values in mentoring, after-school, career readiness and teacher training programmes. It now partners with State governments, including Delhi’s Happiness Programme (serving ~20 million people). The LSAS allows reliable impact assessment, rare in the developing world, and has impressed donors such as the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.
Watch Suchetha Bhat describe how theory and research have informed Dream A Dream
Lived Experiences
Ravichandra K., Facilitator and Life Skills Assessor: “I was struggling at school and hated every lesson… Revanna, the facilitator, listened to me and did not dismiss me as ‘unfit’. This turned my life around. I went on to complete my education and now I am part of assessing life skills outcomes.”
Pavithra Kumar, Director of the Career Connect Centres: “I came in contact with Dream A Dream at 15. My family was struggling. I had a mentor who told me ‘you can do it, you are beautiful’ – this transformed my life. I now dedicate my life to doing the same for others.”
Pallavi, Facilitator and Life Skills Assessor: “I am from a slum background. During Dream A Dream programmes I learned how to respect others, solve problems and handle relationships. I took up football, flew to Brazil to play, and on my return created a women’s football team and a community sports ground. I am now an independent woman and community leader.”
Watch three Dream A Dream facilitators describe how their lives have been changed
References
- Birrell, R., Orley, J., Evans, V., Lee, J., Sprunger, B., & Pellaux, D. (1997). Life skills education for children and adolescents in schools. World Health Organization.
- Kennedy, F., Pearson, D., Brett-Taylor, L. & Talreja, V. (2014). The Life Skills Assessment Scale. Social Behavior and Personality, 42, 197-210.
- Pearson, D., Kennedy, F., Talreja, V., Bhat, S., & Newman-Taylor, K. (2020). The Life Skills Assessment Scale: Norms for young people aged 17–19 and 20–22 years. Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, 48(4), e8938
- Pearson, D., Kennedy, F. C., Talreja, V., Bhat, S., & Newman-Taylor, K. (2021). Thriving in adversity: Do life skills programmes work for developing world children? Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, 49(9), e10493
- Pearson, D., Kennedy, F. C., Bhat, S., Talreja, V., & Newman-Taylor, K. (2021). Thriving in adversity: Do brief milieu interventions work for young adults? Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, 49(9), e10494
Our Other Work
GreenWood Mentors has also worked with other charities to maximise their performance and help individuals develop, for example the Hospice movement, the OMID foundation and Lebanese charities. We have also provided training to help set up the first dialectical behaviour therapy service in Pakistan.
