THRIVE - promoting employment for people with serious mental disorders in India

Based on a social-ecological understanding of employment, we developed and implemented the multi- component THRIVE intervention to systematically support people with SMDs access paid work through individual jobs or other livelihoods options across three diverse sites in India. The intervention comprised of four components- 1. Interventions for individuals: •Drop in THRIVE center based activities •an innovative group based weekly session called Manasrang (colors of the mind) that used expressive arts to create a stimulating and highly engaging group milieu •individualized and systemic support for obtaining paid work, including creation of job banks and group or individual livelihoods options •financial management skills 2.Interventions for caregivers 3.Active community engagement 4.Interventions in the local labor and financial market These intervention components were brought together at dedicated THRIVE centers and implemented by trained teams who were supported by the necessary clinical and developmental support. The program was conducted across multiple sites to understand if the THRIVE intervention was generalizable and what local adaptations were required for any future scale up