Data-Augmented quality improvement With lived experience engagement in early iNtervention for anxiety and depression (DAWN)

DAWN (Data-Augmented quality improvement With lived experience engagement in early iNtervention for anxiety and depression) aims to strengthen delivery-at-scale of the Early Adolescent Skills for Emotions (EASE) intervention for 10-15-year-olds in humanitarian settings in Lebanon, Nepal, and Uganda. These countries combine high adolescent mental health burden, humanitarian emergencies, government commitment to psychosocial integration, and experience involving persons with lived experience of mental health conditions (PLWEs) in mental health training and supervision. Foundational phase activities include establishing consortium governance, mapping policies, theory-of-change workshops, stakeholder consultation, and forming adolescent advisory groups to co-develop a hybrid type 2 trial protocol for the impact phase. The full trial will compare three arms: i) care-as-usual, ii) standard EASE, and iii) EASE+. EASE+ is an implementation strategy integrating youth co-leadership and competency-based, data-driven training and supervision using the WHO-UNICEF EQUIP platform. Co-primary outcomes for the hybrid type-2 include depression-anxiety symptoms (clinical effectiveness) and attendance (reach in the RE-AIM/PRISM implementation science framework), as well as cost-effectiveness and active ingredient mediation analyses. Lived-experience expertise is actively evaluated throughout DAWN. By embedding lived-experience leadership and data-driven systems within humanitarian settings, DAWN will create a scalable model, advancing Wellcome’s priorities on early intervention, equity, and lasting impact.