INTERVENTIONS

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

Playing to live: outcome evaluation of a community-based psychosocial expressive arts program forchildren during the Liberian Ebola epidemic

C. A Decosimo1*, J. Hanson2, M. Quinn3, P. Badu4 and E. G. Smith5

1Playing to Live, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA2University of Pittsburg, Pittsburgh, PA, USA3East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA4Playing to Live, Renewed Energy Serving Humanity, Paynesville, Liberia5Renewed Energy Serving Humanity, Monrovia, Liberia

Global Mental Health (2019), 6, e3, page 1 of 12. doi:10.1017/gmh.2019.1

Background. This paper reviews the efficacy of a community psychosocial arts program focused on building mentalhealth capacity within post-Ebola Liberia. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the outcome effects of two groupsusing pre- and post-treatment data. We hypothesized that there would be a difference in symptoms pre- and post-treatment, and the longer program would yield more significant results.

Methods. There was a total of 870 child participants. Of 40 sites, 24 were selected for a 5-month treatment (TG1) whilethe remaining 16 sites received 3 months of treatment (TG2). Paired t tests and a mixed-model analysis of variance(ANOVA) were used to analyse pre- and post-psychological stress symptoms (PSS) for samples from both groups.

Results. Separately, treatment group 1 (TG1) and treatment group 2’s (TG2) paired t test yielded significant results(p < 0.001) for the decrease of PSS. The mixed-model ANOVA found that there were significant differences in totalpre- and post-test PSS and a significant difference in PSS means over time.

Conclusions. Results indicated that there was a statistically significant decrease in reported symptoms in both treatmentgroups pre- to post-intervention and a significant difference in total symptoms over time. However, the findings do notindicate that the longer programming was statistically different compared to the shorter programming. The study pre-sented had gaps in data, largely due to limits in research during the crisis. However, this paper provides a unique casestudy for challenges that can be faced for project evaluation in emergency settings.

Received 19 March 2018; Revised 14 March 2019; Accepted 26 March 2019

Key words: Art therapy, Ebola, expressive therapies, Liberia, MHPSS.

Background

Childhood trauma

Early childhood is considered to be a vital develop-ment time for one’s emotional foundation (Briggs-

Gowan et al., 2010), and childhood trauma has beenfound to have an effect on an individual’s risk for men-tal illness, delayed cognitive developmental mile-stones, substance abuse, relationships and academicissues (Johnson et al., 2001; Diehl & Prout, 2002;Wethington et al., 2008; Bolton, 2014). The AdverseChildhood Experience study, where childhood traumawas researched through quantifiable measures, foundthat the higher the score for adverse experiences the

* Address for correspondence: C. A Decosimo, Playing to Live, EastTennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA.

(Email: alexisdecosimo@playingtolive.org)

© The Author(s) 2019. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attributionlicence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction inany medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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higher the risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary dis-ease, smoking, intravenous drug use, and suicide(Felitti & Anda, 2010). A child’s environment, espe-cially if they are exposed to multiple elements of adver-sity, has a large impact on their risk for Post-TraumaticStress Disorder and trauma-related issues (Berkowitzet al., 2011). A community-wide trauma, such as nat-ural disasters, wars, and epidemics, can impart innu-merable complications and obstacles for communityservice agencies and community organizations, whichcan have a substantial impact and burden on the indi-viduals, families, and communities affected and inneed of care (SAMHSA, 2014).

Children who have access to psychosocial supportand resources after trauma have a higher potentialfor recovery and resiliency (Caffo & Belaise, 2003),but in drastically low resource settings, trained mentalhealth clinicians are severely scarce. Additionally, thecommunity and family rarely will prioritize mentalhealth care due to the necessity of basic survivalneeds. As a result, relying on trained mental healthprofessionals in communities will only address a min-uscule fraction of the population in need due to limitedtrained professionals (Patel et al., 2011). In contrast,capacity building focused on training lay therapistshas been found to be effective in addressing mentalhealth issues when there is limited access to trainedmental health clinicians (Singla et al., 2014). Capacitybuilding focuses on working within, identifying, andbuilding on the community’s resources and reflectsan ecological focus on empowerment, where the com-munity is seen as essential for change. It is best prac-tices to use or incorporate appropriate cultural ritualsof healing within mental health and psychosocial pro-gramming that embodies a community’s belief system.(IASC, 2007, p. 106–109).

Liberia’s Ebola epidemic and playing to live

From 2013 to 2015, the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)devastated three countries in West Africa: Liberia,Guinea, and Sierra Leone. By the end of the epidemic,there were over 28 000 cases reported and 11 310known case-fatalities (WHO Response Team, 2014).This disease not only had a severe physical impactbut also had a large and noticeable psychologicalimpact on children and families. During this time,the communities around Monrovia, Liberia wereexperiencing extreme amounts of stress, loss, andtrauma. Prior to the Ebola epidemic, Liberia had asevere gap in available mental health services (Leveyet al., 2013), and the gap grew significantly larger dur-ing the epidemic.

From May–November 2015, with a grant from theUnited Nations Children’s Foundation (UNICEF) and

guidance and collaboration with the LiberianMinistry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) andMinistry of Gender (MOGD), the American nonprofit,Playing to Live (PTL), and Liberian-based nonprofit,Renewed Energy Serving Humanity (RESH), a large-scale psychosocial expressive arts program wasimplemented to address the growing psychosocialand mental health needs of children affected by theepidemic. PTL is an American 501(c)3 organizationwhose mission is to build effective and sustainablepsychosocial community-based expressive art pro-grams targeting the psychosocial needs of childrenand communities facing mental health issues andtrauma. RESH is a Liberian-based nonprofit thatfocuses on providing psychosocial support to indivi-duals and communities experiencing traumatic events.This paper discusses the quantitative findings of alarge-scale project implemented by PTL and RESH,which focused on building mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS) capacity within the mostaffected communities. Additionally, there is a discus-sion on barriers faced in establishing the monitoringand evaluation system, lessons learned, and steps forthe future. Decosimo et al. (2017) describe the processof development and implementation of this specificprogram and the qualitative outcomes.

Methods

Playing to live program

PTL’s clinical team consisted of an art therapist, childlife specialist, play therapist, and yoga therapist. Theclinical team was tasked to identify best practices intheir field and develop a training program for paraprofessionals. The tools and techniques identified forthe programming were carefully reviewed, through lit-erature review and consultation with expressive ther-apy colleagues, to determine what techniques wereethical to teach non-clinicians (Kalmanowitz &Potash, 2010). The aim in bringing these diverse butrelational therapeutic professions together was to cre-ate a dynamic program that integrated therapeuticexpressive arts and life skills. PTL only incorporatedtheories from the individual expressive art therapyfields in which a professional was active during theprogram’s development.

The training focused on building healthy relation-ships, teaching child specific trauma coping skills,and building a safe space for children to express them-selves. The program’s theory of change was thatexpressive art activities provide a safe and supportivespace for children to experience healing and growththrough creativity, mentorship, and peer support. Artand play bypass language barriers and provide room

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for creative exploration. Figure 1 illustrates a logicmodel identifying different inputs, outputs, and theo-rized impacts of the programming. Figure 2 illustratesthe shared components of the expressive therapiesrepresented and their projected outcomes, whichserved as a framework when building this interven-tion/program. Facilitators were not trained in traumaprocessing and they were thoroughly taught that facili-tating in-depth mental health and trauma work wasbeyond their training and capacity. RESH assisted inbuilding the program to match Liberian culture andsocio-economic needs.

Following two successful pilot programs and con-sistent guidance and cultural adaptation fromLiberian Ministries and leaders, a committee ofLiberian leaders and cultural liaisons were gatheredto review and comment on the program. The programwas adapted based on their recommendations. PTL’steam of expressive therapists finalized the multi-daytraining, follow up training, and 25 expressive artsactivities. The training and activities focused oninstructing the facilitators on how to conduct activities,support the children beneficiaries, and to communicatewith the child’s family (Decosimo et al., 2017).

The programming and activities for both treatmentgroups were virtually the same. Facilitators weretrained in the activities and instructed to implementat least two to three activities per week. The activitiesincluded an explanation on set up and how to intro-duce and run the activity, recommendations for howto ask questions and facilitate conversation about theactivity, and potential issues to look for during theactivity. Potential issues included possible triggers,how to work with children who were struggling, andany likely risks to mitigate. The activities were struc-tured so that children (4–11) and youth (12–18) couldeasily understand and find enjoyment. An exampleactivity is, ‘My positive future.’ This activity instructedchildren to use art, play, and storytelling to explorewhat they want for their future. The goal of this activ-ity was to help children and youth to identify positiv-ity within their current situation to help them buildhope and goals towards their future (Decosimo et al.,2017). Each activity could be used independently andthe facilitators had the option of choosing which onethey felt was most beneficial for the day.

Selection of facilitators and structure ofprogramming

The program hired and trained 40 female Ebolasurvivors to implement PTL in their communities.Furthermore, 40 RESH employees were hired as psy-chosocial workers, so that one RESH employeewould be partnered with each PTL facilitator to collect

data, provide supportive talks to the family, and sup-port the PTL programming. Supportive talks were pro-vided by RESH employees to assist with the Ebolacrisis; however, data were not collected during thosetalks.

The program was implemented in two groups usinga delayed treatment model. Treatment Group 1 (TG1),which was 60% (N = 533) of the eligible participants,received 5 months of the program. Treatment Group2 (TG2), which was 40% (N = 337) of participants,received 3 months of programming and began 2months after TG1 started. This design was implemen-ted to highlight program differences through the vari-able of time (Table 1). This remained in compliancewith the ministry’s requests to focus the majority fund-ing on programming so that all children could receiveprogramming in a timely manner.

The 40 female Ebola survivors were trained by PTLand RESH to facilitate the program to 15–25 childreneach within their own communities at least 2–3 timesper week during the 5-month (TG1) or 3-month(TG2) implementation period. Child participantswere selected based on their residency in the PTL facil-itator’s community and their guardian’s consent tohave them involved. Children’s symptoms were notscreened for entry into the program, as the MOHSWwanted the program to be provided based on thechild’s exposure to EVD and not on psychologicalstress symptoms (PSS) that may or may not have ini-tially been expressed.

The study compared pre- and post-tests on the totalof seven PSS, which were chosen by the MOHSW/MOGD based on items that were culturally and devel-opmentally applicable for children in Liberia andwould provide an indication of how the child wasadjusting. The PSS were chosen based on existing lit-erature and are further explained in the data collectionsection. The research hypothesis was that the childrenin TG1 would show a higher effect of decreased PSSthan TG2 due to participating in programming fortwo extra months.

Selection of location & participants

There were 870 children (ages 3–18) enrolled in thePTL/RESH project. The project was conducted in 40sites that were randomly selected from a comprehen-sive government list of nearly 100 hot-zone communi-ties. In each of the selected sites, there were childrenwho were Ebola-survivors, from Ebola-infectedhomes, or were living in an Ebola-affected community.The activities were inclusive to all children no mattertheir Ebola status, with the goal of supporting reinte-gration and decreasing stigma. Of the 40 sites, 60%(24) were randomly selected for a 5-month treatment

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Fig. 1. Playing to Live program logic model.

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while the remaining 16 sites received 3 months of treat-ment. The sites were randomly selected by the moni-toring and evaluation specialist who blindly selectedthe sites out of a hat.

Data collection

RESH collected the data, which included child inter-views, with parental consent, on seven PSS, parental/guardian interviews on the child’s PSS, and observa-tions of household environmental conditions. Data col-lection was completed with a scorecard that consistedof a yes/no checklist, measuring key symptoms identi-fied by the MOHSW/MOGD as the common symp-toms among persons impacted by EVD (Glayweon &Hanson, 2015). Each symptom was identified andapproved by the Liberian MOHSW to be used withchildren. The score card was tested during the pilotand revised for this program. The seven PSS included:withdrawal (Chapman et al., 2001), extreme anger

(Davidson et al., 1997), bedwetting (Beyerlein, 2014),worry/anxiety (Feldman & Vengrober, 2011), poor eat-ing habits (Qureshi et al., 2015), violence, and continualsadness (Stallard, 2006). Data were triangulated byasking the child, his/her caregiver, and the PTL facilita-tor for confirmation of each symptom. The symptomswere collected as yes or no binary variables, and ifthe triangulation process showed inconsistent report-ing on a symptom, the symptom was coded as notbeing present. The evaluation team made it a priorityto follow the Liberian MOHSW/MOGD guidance forthe creation and approval of evaluation measuresgiven the emergency context and lack of resources.Poor eating and bed wetting were symptoms asso-ciated by communities as relating to EVD. Additionaldata collected were demographics, guardian maritalstatus, any abuse or negligence, and any reportedschool issues. Children were categorized in one ofthree groups depending on their experience withEbola: survivor, experienced Ebola in the home, orexperienced Ebola in the community.

Pre-test data were collected 1–2 weeks prior to theimplementation of each program. TG1’s pretest datawere collected in late June 2014, and the programbegan shortly thereafter. TG2’s pretest data were col-lected in late August and program implementationbegan in early September. Post-test data for both treat-ment groups were collected when both programs fin-ished in mid-late October 2014. Due to resourcelimitations, communities were randomly selected forpost-test data collection, where ten communities fromTG1 and six communities from TG2 were randomlyselected out of a hat to collect post data. The selectionprocess was completed by a RESH monitoring andevaluation specialist. Since the communities were ran-domly selected originally and then randomly selectedfor the post-test, it is expected that the communitieschosen are representative of the entire studypopulation.

TG1 had post-test data for 233 participants from theoriginal 533 children. TG2 had 123 participants withpost-tests from the original 337 enrollees. Dropoutrates were not recorded in the data. The participantswithout post-tests were excluded from this analysis.The program and data collection were approved bythe MOHSW/MOGD. RESH collected and cleanedthe data of all identifying information and sent theanonymous data set to the PTL research team for thisanalysis. The anonymous data received an expeditedreview and exemption for secondary analysis fromthe East Tennessee State University InstitutionalReview Board (IRB). The final article was submittedto the National Ebola Survivors Network of Liberia,where it received formal approval for disseminationfrom the network’s president.

Fig. 2. Shared outcomes of expressive art therapymodalities.

Table 1. Program monthly implementation (X), Monitoring (M),Pre-Test(O1), Post-Test (O2)

Months

Treatment groups 1 2 3 4 5

Treatment group 1 X, O1 X, M X, M X, M X, O2

Treatment group 2 O1, X X, M X, O2

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Statistical analysis

SPSS software was used for the analyses. Descriptivestatistics from TG1 & TG2 were analysed to evaluatewhether the populations were comparable (Table 2).The outcome effects on PSS were analysed by compar-ing the means of pre- and post-tests of the two treat-ment groups, where 0 indicated no symptoms and 7indicated the child was experiencing all symptoms. Apaired t test was used to analyse the effects of thetwo programs individually, and a mixed-modelanalysis of variance (ANOVA) between the pre-andpost-symptom results for TG1 and TG2 was used todetermine if there was statistical significance betweenthe effects of the programming for 5 months comparedto 3 months.

Results

Descriptive statistics

All communities that received programming were inclose proximity to Monrovia, Liberia and reflectedsimilarities in geography and descriptive statistics.Table 2 highlights the description of children repre-sented in the pre-and post-tests. TG1 (n = 233) had amean age of 9.90 years old (S.D. = 3.57), with 63.1%female and 36.9% male participants.TG2 (n = 123)had a mean age of 10.20 years old (S.D. 3.87), with73% female participants. Table 2 also outlines whetherthe child participants had living parents, along withtheir Ebola status. Table 3 shows the mean of PSS byEbola status for TG1 and TG2, and Table 4 comparesthe mean of PSS by gender. In both tables, post-testtotal symptoms primarily decreased, with some excep-tions. In most cases, TG2 had higher symptom counts,with some symptoms increasing at the post-test. Forexample, children in TG2 age 5 increased from 0.38to 0.63 in crying.

Paired t tests

Paired t tests were completed for each treatment groupseparately to analyse mean differences in PSS scores(range 0–7) pre- to post-intervention. Table 5 outlinesthe paired sample statistics of TG1’s 5-month imple-mentation. TG1’s total pre-treatment PSS mean was1.32 (S.D. = 0.93), with a post-treatment PSS mean of0.77 (S.D. = 0.73).

Table 5 outlines the paired sample statistics of theTG2’s 3-month implementation. TG2’s pre-treatmentmean was 2.22 (S.D. = 1.45), and the post-treatmentmean was 1.79 (S.D. = 1.392). Table 5 shows thepaired-samples-t test, which was performed to testthe significance between the two assessments.Table 5 shows a significant decrease of total symptoms

for both TG1 [(mean difference = 0.55, S.D. = 0.96);t(232) = 8.74, p < 0.001)] and TG2 [(mean difference =0.43, S.D. = 1.19); t(122) = 3.93, p < 0.001)] after the imple-mentation of PTL.

Mixed model ANOVA

The ANOVA test showed that there was a significantdifference between the two treatment groups on totalsymptoms pre- to post-program, F(1,354) = 69.46, p <0.001 (Table 6). This indicates that TG2 had signifi-cantly higher symptoms of pre- and post-intervention.Additionally, there was a significant difference in totalsymptoms over time (F(1,354) = 84.33, p < 0.001)(Table 6). However, the interaction between treatmentgroups and time was not significant (p = 0.28).

Discussion

Discussion of analysis

There was a statistically significant decrease inreported symptoms in both treatment groups pre- topost-intervention and a significant difference in totalsymptoms over time. However, while those in TG1and TG2 had different scores and there were changesin PSS scores across time points, the findings do notindicate that the longer programming was statisticallydifferent compared to the shorter programming. Thisfinding does not provide a comprehensive indicationthat longer programming was more beneficial, but it

Table 2. Descriptive statistics for TG1, TG2, and total

TG1 TG2 TG1 & TG2n = 233 n = 123 n = 356

Mean (S.D.) Mean (S.D.) Mean (S.D.)

Age 9.90 (3.57) 10.20 (3.87) 9.97 (3.67)Descriptive stats n (%) n (%) n (%)Female 147 (63.1%) 73 (59.3%) 220 (63%)Male 86 (36.9%) 50 (40.7%) 136 (38.2%)Mother alive 189 (81.1%) 98 (79.7%) 287 (81%)Father alive 150 (64.4%) 91 (74%) 241 (64%)Ebola survivor 4 (1.7%) 1 (0.8%) 5 (1.7%)Parent died ofEbola

81 (34.8%) 32 (26%) 113 (34.8%)

Child experiencedEbola in thefamily (excludingparent)

31(13.3%) 23 (19%) 54 (13%)

Child experiencedEbola in thecommunity(Excludingfamily)

119 (51.1%) 67 (54.5%) 186 (51.1%)

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Table 3. PSS by Ebola status

Ebola status

Crying Anger Withdrawn Worry Bad eating Violence Bedwetting Total

Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post

TG1 Ebola survivor 0.25 0.25 0.25 0 0.5 0.25 0.5 0.25 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.5 0.75TG2 Ebola survivor 0.39 1 0.32 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 3TG1 parent died of Ebola 0.51 0.25 0.1 0.07 0.21 0.07 0.27 0.12 0.06 0.04 0.14 0.05 0.06 0.04 1.5 0.56TG2 parent died of Ebola 0.53 0.5 0.34 0.34 0.47 0.47 0.44 0.5 0.69 0.63 0.09 0.13 0.22 0.16 2.45 2.44TG1 Child experienced Ebola in the family (excluding parent) 0.58 0.1 0.29 .19 0.19 0.03 0.35 0.23 0.13 0.1 0.32 0.13 0.1 0.06 1.55 0.65TG2 child experienced Ebola in the family (excluding parent) 0.52 0.39 0.22 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.43 0.3 0.65 0.61 0.26 0.22 0.3 0.26 2 1.65TG1 child experienced Ebola in the community (Excluding family) 0.27 0.22 0.12 0.08 0.22 0.15 0.18 0.13 0.08 0.07 0.11 0.08 0.13 0.07 0.87 0.62TG2 child experienced Ebola in the community (Excluding family) 0.28 0.21 0.34 0.21 0.34 0.18 0.36 0.21 0.25 0.22 0.1 0.07 0.13 0.13 1.58 1.03

Table 4. PSS means and percent with symptom by gender

Crying Anger Withdrawn Worry Bad eating Violence BedwettingTotal

symptoms

Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post

TG 1 Male mean 0.42 0.20 0.17 0.09 0.21 0.09 0.16 0.06 0.12 0.10 0.17 0.05 0.13 0.08 1.38 0.67TG1 Male N% 36 (40%) 17 (34.0%) 15 (45.5%) 8 (9.3%) 18 (36.0%) 8 (32.0%) 14 (24.6%) 5 (15.2%) 10 (52.6%) 9 (64.3%) 15 (44.1%) 4 (22.2%) 11 (45.8%) 7 (41.2%)TG 1 Femalemeans

0.37 0.22 0.12 0.10 0.22 0.12 0.29 0.19 0.06 0.03 0.13 0.10 0.09 0.07 1.28 0.82

TG 1 Female N% 54 (60%) 33 (22.4%) 18 (54.5%) 14 (63.6%) 32 (64.0%) 17 (68.0%) 43 (75.4%) 28 (84.8%) 9 (47.4%) 5 (35.7%) 19 (55.9%) 14 (77.8%) 13 (54.2%) 10 (58.8%)TG2 Male mean 0.34 0.38 0.28 0.12 0.36 0.20 0.36 0.32 0.48 0.44 0.12 0.12 0.18 0.22 1.82 1.46TG2 Male N% 17 (34.7%) 19 (47.5%) 14 (35.9%) 6 (20.7%) 18 (42.9%) 10 (32.3%) 18 (37.5%) 16 (43.2%) 24 (43.6%) 22 (44.9%) 6 (37.5%) 6 (42.9%) 9 (39.1%) 11 (55.0%)TG 2 Female mean 0.40 0.29 0.32 0.32 0.34 0.29 0.39 0.29 0.45 0.37 0.13 0.11 0.19 0.12 1.89 1.55TG 2 Female N% 32 (65.3%) 21 (52.5%) 25 (64.1%) 23 (79.3%) 24 (57.1%) 21 (67.7%) 30 (62.5%) 21 (56.8%) 31 (56.4%) 27 (55.1%) 10 (62.5%) 8 (57.1%) 14 (60.9%) 9 (45.0%)

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does support the growing evidence that expressive artactivities have short-term effects on the improvementof physical and mental health and social wellbeing(Morris et al., 2014).

However, it should be noted that TG2 had a highermean at pre-test of total symptoms than did TG1.TG2’s pre-data were collected 2 months after TG1’spre-data, which indicates that PSS increased over 2months after the end of the epidemic. It is unclearfrom the interview of key informants during the imple-mentation time, whether a community-wide eventcould have impacted TG2’s stress symptoms over the2-month period, though since TG1’s symptomsdecreased over the 5-month time, it seems unlikelythat an additional community-wide event causedincreased stress symptoms. The demographics ofboth treatment groups were similar, and since selectionof communities for the two treatment groups was ran-domized, this difference in the two pre-test symptomssuggests that symptoms rose due to not receiving men-tal health support immediately after the trauma, whichcould infer PTL programming acted as a barrier to fur-ther development of stress symptoms for TG1. It alsohighlights the need for sustainable programming forchildren who have experienced a traumatic event.

Children’s reactions to trauma are not immediate; attimes they can appear weeks or months after thetrauma event (Wethington et al., 2008). A child mightnot immediately show signs of traumatic stress,which could lessen their chance of receiving mentalhealth care and support, but these data suggest symp-toms could increase over time.

Ethical considerations

During the process of piloting and implementing thisprogram, PTL and RESH followed the LiberianMinistry’s ethical and cultural guidance. Due to lim-ited resources and the crisis at hand, PTL wasinstructed to focus on program implementation v.using monetary and personnel resources for research-ing the program. From this guidance, PTL & RESHbuilt a monitoring and evaluation process to capturethe outcomes of the programming as best as possiblegiven the limited resources available.

Despite those limitations, a strength in the data col-lection was the triangulation of data. The RESH andPTL employees were trained in culturally appropriatetechniques of assessing and inquiring about PSS. Byasking the child, the caregiver, and assessing through

Table 5. Pre to Post- Intervention PSSa Mean Scores and Paired Sample t test for TG1 and TG2

PSS Mean Scores Paired Differences

Mean (S.D.) S.E. Mean Mean (S.D.) S.E. Mean 95% CI t df p value

TG 1 Baseline PSS 1.32 (0.93) 0.06 0.55 (0.96) 0.06 0.43, 0.67 8.74 232 p < 0.001TG1 Post-intervention PSS 0.77 (0.73) 0.05TG2 Baseline PSS 2.22 (1.45) 0.13 0.43 (1.19) 0.11 0.21, 0.64 3.93 122 p < 0.001TG2 Post-intervention PSS 1.79 (1.39) 0.13

a PSS- Psychological Stress Symptoms. The score ranged from 0 to 7.Note: Significant at the p < 0.001

Table 6. ANOVA tests

Measure: Time

Type III sum of MeanSource Squares df Square F Sig.

Within-subjects contrasts in TG1 compared to TG2Time Linear 38.04 1 38.1 69.46 p < 0.001Time × Treatment Groups Linear 0.65 1 0.65 1.18 0.28Error (factor 1) Linear 193.85 354 0.55Between-subjects effects in TG1 compared to TG2Treatment groups 147.49 1 147.48 84.33 p < 0.001Error 619.14 354 1.75

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observation validity was enhanced in the decision toconfirm or deny symptoms. A symptom was notrecorded as a yes unless all three sources confirmedthis to be true.

Ethical considerations were taken into considerationwhen deciding on the timeline to collect data for thedelayed treatment group, and it was decided by thepartnership and Liberian guidance that it would betoo difficult to collect data on the delayed group 2months prior to actual implementation. This was toavoid the children becoming prematurely excited forprogramming.

Limitations

There were some key limitations to the data collectionand analysis. First, baseline data collection includedcase files that had missing or inaccurate information,mostly explained by the challenge of collecting datawithin weeks of the Ebola crisis ending. Social and cul-tural effects from the crisis provided great challengesto the data collection team, and incomplete data wereremoved from this study. Some of these challengesincluded children moving away and fears of beinginfected if they engaged in community activities.Secondly, 510 participants were not included in thisanalysis because they were not assessed for post datacollection. Due to limitations in data collectionresources, the evaluation team randomly selectedpost-test recipients to represent the program and notall participants had post-test data collected. Despiterandomization, there are still gaps in the researchframework that could have missed cluster effectsoccurring in specific communities.

Additionally, due to the absence of a midpointassessment of stress symptoms and data for TG2 notbeing collected at the same time as TG1, this designis not a true delayed treatment design. The absenceof having a control group creates gaps in knowledgeand true reliability of the findings. A formal delayedtreatment framework would include a pre, mid, andpost evaluation structure, in which two nonequivalentgroups received the treatment at different times and ina delayed sequence. This program design did not havethe budget for a midpoint evaluation. This study ana-lysed the two treatment groups as separate treatmentsto account for these limitations and to accommodatethe recommendations and requests of the Liberianministries. However, a true delayed treatment designwould provide a stronger evaluation of the progressionof two treatment groups.

All of these limitations demonstrate the obstaclesoften faced by in-field evaluation teams in mentaland psychosocial programming in developing coun-tries, regularly compounded by high-risk, post-disaster

settings. This project team worked closely with govern-ment and implementation partners to find solutions tothese unanticipated challenges as they arose on theground. Data collectors were operating in sites heavilyaffected by Ebola, and still under threat of another out-break. Their dedication and bravery to establishing abaseline pretest so near the epicenter of the crisis iscommended.

To truly understand the value of a program, it isessential to analyse if a program or project has a lastingeffect and is sustained over time (Ager et al., 2011).These post data were collected directly after the pro-gram implementation due to limitations in resources.An ideal model for moving forward is to seekresources to evaluate the long-term impact of psycho-social programs, which would include multiple postdata collections over time. This should include theeffects on the individuals, families, and surroundingcommunities. For a program like PTL in Liberia, itwould be important to evaluate the child participant’strauma symptoms over a longer period of time. Thiswould build a more in-depth understanding of post-trauma mental health programming and its impact,and, as stated before, a comparison or control groupwould aid in deciphering how the program influencedthe child’s stress symptoms compared to other factors.It should be noted, that a PTL representative did visit afew of the communities included in this program ayear after the program ended. While data were notable to be collected at this time since the programwas finished, it was helpful to see that the formerPTL facilitators/ Ebola survivors were still using theactivities voluntarily with community children andwith their own children. This observation supportsPTL’s theory that by focusing on building skills withinthe community, through culturally adapted trainingand easy to use activities, a sustainable change canbe made.

Recommendations

There is a paucity of research on long-term art therapyprogramming in emergency settings (Orr, 2007),though art therapy research highlights a significanteffect on behaviors and trauma symptoms when indi-viduals receive long-term care (Siayton et al., 2010). Itis our recommendation that a long-term evaluationframework is created for future programs, with afocus on researching lasting impacts.

A recommendation for future work is to establish ananalytic and behavioral framework for similar pro-gramming prior to a crisis response. This implementa-tion framework can be used as a theoretically-basedfoundation for program development and implemen-tation. The framework should include essential steps

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needed prior to implementation that inform culturalsignificance and needs of the community, involvementof stakeholders, and how the elements of the programwill influence outcomes. Additionally, program devel-opers and partnered organizations should ensure thatall appropriate ethics and community leadership areinvolved, consulted, and in agreement with the pro-gram implementation and evaluation plan. Many fac-tors were faced by the local implementation teamdue to the public health emergency context and themulti-agency request for a timely implementation,therefore accessing and submitting to the local IRBwas not achieved. In place of a formal IRB, the localteam formed a group of representatives from theLiberian ministries to guide and oversee the develop-ment, monitoring and evaluation, and implementationprocesses. The authors of this paper later submitted thesecondary data set for expedited IRB approval.

Secondly, a framework for monitoring and evalu-ation and outcome measurements is also recom-mended. This study followed the recommendationsfrom the Liberian ministries and focused on stresssymptoms, where the data validity was strengthenedby utilizing a triangulation technique that involved col-lecting data on seven potential stress symptoms fromthe child, caregiver, and facilitator/social worker.Additional measures on behavior, attitudes, knowl-edge gain, and perceptions would further inform theunderstanding of the program’s outcome. The devel-opment of impact models specific to the differentaspects of programming would provide a morein-depth understanding of how they influence change.This could include how therapeutic expressive artsimpact childhood trauma symptoms, the impact ofcommunity support for children, the impact ofcommunity-wide knowledge gain on trauma and men-tal health, and the impact of psychosocial skill devel-opment among local leaders.

Conclusion

This study highlights the impact a community-basedpsychosocial expressive arts program had on a child’sstress response to the EVD outbreak. Support pro-gramming significantly reduced PSS symptoms post-program. This clinical implication suggests the urgentneed for psychosocial support programming after atrauma. It is important to note that resources for datacollection and program development can be severelylimited during a crisis, and it is essential to followthe leadership of the local government and entities.Using low-cost techniques like triangulation duringdata collection can be an effective tool for buildingvalidity and the development of programming andevaluation frameworks prior to an emergency will

provide a more thorough and efficient approach.Evaluation frameworks that include analytic andbehavioral elements and impact models will providea stronger understanding of how each component ofdevelopment, programming, and implementationinfluence outcome effects.

While further research is needed to show a morein-depth picture of the impact of expressive art therapytechniques in emergency settings like the Ebola epi-demic, a growing number of reports are showing theeffects of expressive art therapy on reducing traumastress symptoms (Orr, 2007). The theory states thatart and expression provide a portal for children togive meaning to confusion and fear. The sensoryaspect of art and play provides a space for a child toexplore relationships, symbolism, and emotions(Byers, 1996). The child participants in the PTL pro-gramming were provided a safe and supportivespace to explore and communicate their experiencesfrom the epidemic. The art and play provided thechildren a modality to connect through symbolismand metaphors, allowing them to take control oftheir chaotic environment. The results from this ana-lysis suggest that PTL programming could haveacted as a protective factor towards the developmentof further trauma stress symptoms from the childrenof TG1.

For future programming, the development of impactmodels specific to the different aspects of PTL’s pro-gram will provide a more in-depth understanding ofhow they influence change. The different aspectsinclude how therapeutic expressive arts impact child-hood trauma symptoms, the impact of communitysupport for children, the impact of community-wideknowledge gain on trauma and mental health, andthe impact of psychosocial skill development amonglocal leaders. Qualitative data and process evaluationsare also a key component of a thorough evaluation.Decosimo et al. (2017) explains the qualitative assess-ment of this specific program and highlights the pro-cess taken to implement a program during the Ebolaepidemic.

This evaluation builds a foundation for future inves-tigation of therapeutic expressive arts programmingand provides a key case study reflecting on potentialevaluation obstacles to overcome when providing psy-chosocial programming in post-epidemic settings.Despite limitations in methodology due to issueswith data collection and completeness, this study pro-vides worthwhile information regarding children’s PSSin the midst of a major infectious disease epidemic,which is unprecedented in the literature. Further, thestudy provides an impactful approach on how to suc-cessfully navigate implementation of a program toassist with long-term effects of an epidemic that caused

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high-levels of mortality in an already low-resourceenvironment.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge RESH for leadingprogram implementation, data collection, and datasharing; as well as the National Ebola SurvivorsNetwork of Liberia, and the Liberian Ministry ofGender Development and the Ministry of Health fortheir continual guidance during the development andimplementation.

This work was supported financially through a grantfunded by UNICEF to Renewed Energy ServingHumanity, with additional support from Playing toLive individual donors.

Declaration of interest

None.

Ethical standards

The authors assert that all procedures contributing tothis work comply with ethical standards of the rele-vant national and institutional committees overseeingthis project.

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