Naytra’s premise is simple: “Giving young women an 8-week mental health program — bi-weekly check-ins and a self-help guide — will decrease their anxiety and depression scores.” Her program serves women ages 18–25 in Lubao, using the same screening instruments clinicians use, delivered at a level a small program can actually run.

“A low-intensity intervention — comprised of bi-weekly psychometric screening (PHQ-9/GAD-7) and the distribution of a CBT-based psychoeducational pamphlet — will result in a statistically significant reduction in GAD-7 and PHQ-9 symptom severity scores.”

What she’s built

• A complete pretest–posttest study design with careful eligibility rules — mild-to-moderate scores (5–14) are served by the program; severe cases are excluded and referred through a Clinical Referral Pathway
• All eight weekly intervention video scripts written: 4-7-8 breathing, 5-4-3-2-1 grounding, thinking traps, behavioral activation, mood tracking, mindfulness, and gratitude
• A CBT tri-fold pamphlet, a screening flow, a “gatekeeper quiz” fidelity system with SMS reminders, and a participant-stipend plan

Her itemized budget includes an $80-per-participant stipend plan and a $1,500 donation to the civic-center clinic, and her screening flow runs on a Google Form. The intervention is fully designed and scripted, ready to run with its first group of participants.

Meet the fellow

Naytra Kaushik is an 11th-grade student at El Dorado High School, in the Fellowship’s Medicine track. She designed the eight-week program end to end: the screening flow and eligibility rules, the CBT-based guide, all eight weekly intervention video scripts, a gatekeeper fidelity system, and a participant-stipend plan.

Naytra Kaushik’s final presentation

Open the presentation in Google Drive → · Watch her final presentation video →

This project is part of Eat The Elephant’s work in Lubao, Pampanga — explore the Lubao project hub →