This document provides a full report of the workshop on “Depression in Children and Young Persons living in Alternative Care: Challenges and Possibilities.” The workshop was organised by Udayan Care on the 1st of September, 2017 at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) in New Delhi, India, under the tutelage of Dr. Nimesh G. Desai, Director of IHBAS and Dr. Monisha Nayar-Akhtar, psychotherapist and psychoanalyst, also teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, USA.
The workshop examined the causes, prognosis, and symptoms of depression, specific to children living in Alternative Care settings. It examined the unique and important role that caregivers, service providers and/or decision makers play in terms of extending full care, protection and support to the children and young adults. These responsibilities come with their own challenges and so, apart from being competent in providing a nurturing environment, caregivers must also develop strategies to maintain their own physical and emotional well-being. The workshop briefly discussed a few of these common challenges and provided coping mechanisms for caregivers such as foster parents, counsellors, teachers, doctors, CWC and Juvenile Justice Board members, etc.
The first chapter of this report provides a basic theory for the aetiology of and interventions for depression in children living in Alternative Care and provides contemporary empirical-based interventions that are used by professionals in treating depression in children and adolescents. The second chapter is a documentation of the proceedings of the workshop, including the recommendations and feedback received from the participants.
