# ESSENCE (Enabling translation of Science to Service to ENhance Depression CarE)

> **NIH NIH U19** · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · 2021 · $583,527

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT (OVERALL COMPONENT)
The overall goal of ESSENCE (Enabling translation of Science to Service to ENhance Depression CarE)
is to bridge the science to service gap and strengthen an existing collaborative network of institutions in
South Asia bound together by the NIMH supported SHARE Hub (the South Asian Hub for Advocacy,
Research and Education on mental health) for International Mental Health Research, by generating
knowledge on cost-effective implementation approaches for scaling up of evidence based interventions
for mental disorders, and building capacity in a range of key stakeholders to enhance the conduct of
implementation research, the dissemination of its findings, and the uptake of this evidence in policy and
programs, ultimately resulting in reduction of treatment gap for mental disorders. The Scale Up
component will primarily contribute to knowledge generation. The research in the Scale up component
consists of two complementary, sequential randomized controlled trials, conducted over the five years.
The first trial (the “Training trial”) will test two approaches for online training interventions compared
with traditional face to face training for Non-Specialists Health Workers to deliver the Healthy Activity
Program, an evidence based brief psychological treatment for depression in primary care attenders. This
will be followed by a three-arm, cluster randomized controlled trial (the “Implementation trial”) which
will evaluate the impact of progressively incremental resource-intensive implementation support
strategies to integrate collaborative care to deliver evidence based clinical treatments for depression in
primary care on patient outcomes, service use outcomes and implementation fidelity. The Capacity
Building component aims to strengthen the capacity in the four South Asian countries to conduct
implementation research in mental health, disseminate the findings to facilitate knowledge exchange, and
promote the uptake of research findings to facilitate evidence-based mental health policy making and
program planning. The Administrative Core will evolve from the existing administrative infrastructure of
SHARE and will take responsibility for the overall administration, coordination, management and
monitoring of all components, ensuring that the milestones are being met, that there is effective
coordination between the components, networking with other initiatives in the regions, and appropriate
research uptake of program outputs and outcomes. We envisage strong synergies between all the three
components in a variety of ways, for example ensuring that the findings generated in Scale Up component
will be disseminated by professionals who are offered mentored fellowships leading to knowledge
exchange while Capacity Building of policy makers and program managers concerned with the Scale Up
component will aim to enhance knowledge uptake. This will be ably supported by the Administrative
Core laying the foundation of a long...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10168616
- **Project number:** 5U19MH113211-05
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
- **Principal Investigator:** John A Naslund
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $583,527
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10168616

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10168616, ESSENCE (Enabling translation of Science to Service to ENhance Depression CarE) (5U19MH113211-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10168616. Licensed CC0.

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