TPO Nepal’s model for program and intervention development is compatible with the public mental health model used in the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings. As the Guidelines state, “people are affected in different ways and require different kinds of supports. A key to organizing … psychosocial support is to develop a layered system of complementary support that meets the needs of different groups.”

The “layered” approach includes:

 IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings 

Primary prevention of psychosocial problems through:

• Coordination with other agencies and community institutions
• Orientation and psychoeducation for family and community members and front-line service providers, to aid in early identification and referral
• Establishment of social support/self-help groups (e.g. children, youth, parents, mixed family groups, and so on)
• Basic emotional support provided by Community Psychosocial Workers (CPSWs)

Secondary prevention. For more vulnerable or at-risk individuals and families, targeted interventions may include:

• Screening and assessment of those in need of counseling and/or therapeutic group work
• Individual, family and group counseling
• Structured group interventions (e.g. “Sanjeevani,” a structured class-room based intervention (CBI) for at-risk children that has been introduced and tested in Nepal by TPO; or self-help groups for recovering alcoholics, etc.)

Tertiary prevention. Assessment and referral of those with specialized mental health/psychological needs to psychiatric care.