Va Meh Du: A Sports-based Mental Health Promotion Intervention for Karenni Refugees

University of North Carolina, Greensboro

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Psychological Well Being; Physical Activity; Social Connectedness; Coping Skills

Treatments: Behavioral: Va Meh Du (Mental Health Education); Behavioral: Active Compartor

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06921499

UNCGreensboro

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a soccer program focused on mental health positively impacts mental health in Karenni refugee young boys and men. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does mental health education provided during a sports program improve mental health coping for Karenni refugee young boys and men? Does participation in a sports-program improve social connection for Karenni refugee young boys and men?

Researchers will compare those receiving mental health education to a comparison group to see if mental health education improves mental health coping skills.

Participants will:

Participate weekly soccer practices for 6 months Receive mental health education or comparison activities Answer questions about their health, such as their coping skills, social connection, and physical activity

Enrollment: 60 estimated patients

Sex: Male

Ages: 8+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• For child/minor participants: 8-16 years old, self-identifies as Karenni, self-identifies as a boy, speaks English, currently lives in Piedmont Triad area of NC, has parental consent, assents to participate
• For adult participants--18 years of age, self-identifies as Karenni, self-identifies as a man, speaks English and Karenni, currently lives in Piedmont Triad area of NC, consents to participate, anticipates missing no more than 2 practices

Exclusion criteria

• [for adult participants only]: Criminal record indicating potential harm to children (i.e., convicted of a violent or sexual crime, registration in the Sex Offender Registry, Responsible Individual List, or Child Maltreatment Registry) or are expected to miss more than 2 practices

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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60 participants in 2 patient groups

Mental Health Education

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Va Meh Du (Mental Health Education)

Comparison

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants randomized to comparison will receive 20-30 minutes of team-building activities each week for roughly 5 weeks.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Active Compartor