Mental Health & Skill Development Survey Analysis

Mental Health & Skill Development Survey Analysis Report

Handloom Research and Development Project in the NER (Assam)

Implemented by: Department of Textile & Fiber Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

Sponsored by: The North Eastern Council, Ministry of Development of North Eastern region, Government of India

PI: Prof. Samrat Mukhopadhyay

Project Exe.: Mitali Das Talukdar

Consultant: Mr. Dhiraj Thakuria

Research Intern: Ms Kriti Sharma

Overview

The following report consists of the data analysis for the Survey conducted on 400 weavers from Sualkuchi Region of Assam. All the analysis and tables and section interpretations have been added for the reference of the reader.

Process

For the purpose of this study, a survey containing 72 questions divided into 6 subsections namely Demographic Data, Standardised Stress Assessment Scales, Causes of Stress, Awareness of Mental Health, Body Pain and Skill Development, was conducted on a total of 400 weavers from Sualkuchi, Assam.

Within these subsections, some had further sections to map the particular variable comprehensively. There were 4 sections in the Stress Assessment Scale measuring Work-related, family-related, financial and social isolation related stress levels respectively; The Awareness of Mental Health also contained 4 sections pertaining to the workers' awareness, stigma, access to healthcare and preferred ways of receiving information about mental health.

The last section dealing with Skill Development of the weavers included 7 sections mapping out various skills like communication, teamwork, time management, marketing, adaptability, decision-making and financial literacy.

Once the survey conduction was done, data was seen and missing responses were found in 126 of the responses and thus had to be removed from the final analysis leaving the final number as 274.

Category	Count
Total respondents:	400
Missing responses (removed from the final analysis)	126
Total number (N)	274

Discussion was conducted to decide the extent of quantitative analysis, and percentage, frequency, measures of central tendency and variability were finalised. The tool used for analysis was IBM SPSS (Statistical Package of Social Sciences). As the tool reads numerical data only, data coding was done. Depending on the scale of the choices available for a question, scoring was done to aid in analysis. Once the data was coded, it was put through the software, and data tables were created. The interpretation of the tables is as follows:

Section 1: Demographic Details

Age

Age Group	Frequency	Percent	Cumulative Percent
18-30	29	10.6	10.6
31-45	153	55.3	65.9
46-60	87	31.9	97.8
60 and above	6	2.2	100.0
Total	274	100.0

Gender

Gender	Frequency	Percent	Cumulative Percent
Female	248	90.5	90.5
Male	27	9.5	100.0
Total	274	100.0

The demographic of the weavers involved in the survey were predominantly in the 31-45 age group (55.3%), followed by the 46-60 group (31.9%) and minimal people below 18-30 (10.9%) as well as 60 and above age group (2.2%). From the gender perspective, we see a heavy predominance of female weavers (90.5%). Thus, the demographic of the present study generally consisted of women weavers between the ages of 31-60.

Section 2: Stress Assessment Scale

Work Related Stress

Score	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
4	1	0.4	0.4
5	22	8.0	8.4
6	108	39.4	47.8
7	115	42.0	89.8
8	28	10.2	100.0
Total	274	100.0

Family Related Stress

Score	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
6	10	3.6	3.6
7	4	1.5	5.1
8	7	2.6	7.7
9	9	3.3	10.9
10	59	21.5	32.5
11	13	4.7	37.2
12	98	35.8	73.0
13	11	4.0	77.0
14	51	18.6	95.6
15	11	4.0	99.6
16	1	0.4	100.0
Total	274	100.0

Financial Related Stress

Score	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
4	219	79.9	79.9
5	19	6.9	86.9
6	8	2.9	89.8
7	12	4.4	94.2
8	16	5.8	100.0
Total	274	100.0

Social Isolation Stress

Score	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
1	3	1.1	1.1
2	17	6.2	7.3
3	42	15.3	22.6
4	33	12.0	34.7
5	11	4.0	38.7
6	40	14.6	53.3
7	85	31.0	84.3
8	13	4.7	89.1
9	10	3.6	92.7
10	8	2.9	95.6
11	8	2.9	98.5
12	2	0.7	99.3
13	1	0.4	99.6
14	1	0.4	100.0
Total	274	100.0

Total Stress Scores

Score	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
18	1	0.4	0.4
19	2	0.7	1.1
21	4	1.5	2.6
22	5	1.8	4.4
23	18	6.6	10.9
24	20	7.3	18.2
25	25	9.1	27.4
26	20	7.3	34.7
27	23	8.4	43.1
28	15	5.5	48.5
29	23	8.4	56.9
30	29	10.6	67.5
31	25	9.1	76.6
32	28	10.2	86.9
33	12	4.4	91.2
34	8	2.9	94.2
35	5	1.8	96.0
36	4	1.5	97.4
37	2	0.7	98.2
38	3	1.1	99.3
39	1	0.4	99.6
40	1	0.4	100.0
Total	274	100.0

Descriptive Statistics

Category	N	Range	Minimum	Maximum	Sum	Mean	Std. Deviation
Work Related	274	4	4	8	1791	6.54	0.799
Family related	274	10	6	16	3172	11.58	2.082
Financial related	274	4	4	8	1231	4.49	1.130
Social Isolation	274	13	1	14	1598	5.83	2.421
Total	274	22	18	40	7792	28.44	3.974
Valid (listwise)	274

The Stress Assessment Scale aimed to highlight the perceived stress level of the weavers with the help of a comprehensive questionnaire measuring various kinds of stress. With respect to the Work-related stress scale, participants generally scored between 4 and 4-8 points out of 14. A stark majority ranked their stress levels in the middle (108 people scored 6 points (39.4%) and 115 people scored 7 (42%). In the Family related stress scale, scored between 10-12 out of 22.

Similarly, the Financial related stress scale and Social Isolation Scale had higher rates of middle scores with an overwhelming majority scoring only 4 out of 12 in the former and between 3-7 out of 14 in the latter.

Similar trends were observed in all sub-categories as well as the total scores of the scale with the mean scores of all retaining their position around the centre or below the median (Work related6.54/14; family related- 11.58/22; financial related- 4.49/12; social isolation-5.83/14; Total28.44/62). Thus, the findings display a prominent middle category bias and the data does not seem to provide specific information about the demographic.

Section 3: Causes of Stress

Choose the body parts that are in pain and are causing stress to you

Body Part	Frequency
head	129
eye	185
eyebrow	9
elbow	142
neck	167
arm	104
hand	164
waist	243
finger	103
knee	189
thigh	52
calf	13
ankle	56
foot	170
arch	9
toe	48
ball	16

Choose the activities that cause stress to you

Activity	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Financial Problems	222	81.0	81.0
Sleeplessness	23	8.4	89.4
Drinking	9	3.3	92.7
Weaving	19	6.9	99.6
Family	1	0.4	100.0
Total	274	100.0

Choose the emotion that you think causes stress

Emotion	Frequency	Percent	Cumulative Percent
Tired	192	70.1	70.1
Disappointed	28	10.2	80.3
Weak	40	14.6	94.9
Impatient	3	1.1	96.0
Annoyed	7	2.6	98.5
Bored	1	0.4	98.9
Shy	3	1.1	100.0
Total	274	100.0

This section was aimed at understanding the cause of stress in the population. After a preliminary survey and informal conversations, some areas were highlighted and three questions were formed to analyse the ground reality. Firstly, a list of 17 body parts was provided to people who were asked to identify which parts were causing pain and stress for them.

A large number of people i.e. 243 people chose waist. Other frequently selected body parts included knee (189), Eye (185), Foot (170), Neck (167) and Hand (164). Among the various stress inducing activities mentioned, 222 people (81%) chose financial problems. Emotion of feeling tired saw most responses as the emotion that they thought caused stress (192 people (70.1%)).

Thus, this section streamlined the common stressors for the demographic to body pain, financial difficulty and feelings of tiredness and weakness.

Section 4: Awareness of Mental Health

Have you ever been to a doctor because you were feeling very sad or very angry?

Response	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	39	14.0	14.0
No	235	86.0	100.0
Total	274	100.0

Have you ever been to the doctor for any of the reasons mentioned below? (Check all that apply)

Causes	Frequency
Stress	133
Family	212
Financial	0
Health	346
Social	4
Marital	2

Are there days when you don't feel like doing your regular work even though your body feels okay?

Response	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	267	97.8	97.8
No	7	2.2	100.0
Total	274	100.0

Do you think mental health is as important as physical health?

Response	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	269	98.5	98.5
No	5	1.5	100.0
Total	274	100.0

Should people be able to talk openly about their feelings if they are sad or worried?

Response	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	268	98.2	98.2
No	6	1.8	100.0
Total	274	100.0

Do you think your community/ family will laugh or avoid anyone who is mentally stressed?

Response	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	91	33.1	33.1
No	183	66.9	100.0
Total	274	100.0

Are you aware of any mental healthcare facilities or services (places where people can talk to professionals about their feelings and problems e.g. doctors, professionals, toll-free numbers) available in your local area?

Response	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	208	76.1	76.1
No	66	23.9	100.0
Total	274	100.0

If yes, have you or anyone you know ever used these services?

Response	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	208	76.1	76.1
No	66	23.9	100.0
Total	274	100.0

If yes, would you like to go and avail these services?

Response	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	275	97.4	97.4
No	7	2.6	100.0
Total	274	100.0

If yes, how would you like to go to these services to seek help?

Response	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Individually	105	37.9	37.9
In-groups	169	62.1	100.0
Total	274	100.0

How would you like to receive information about mental health and available services?

Ways	Frequency
Community	172
Pamphlet	30
Local radio	54
Mobile	264
Youtube	174

How important do you think it is to have accessible mental healthcare services in your community

Response	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Important	274	100.0	100.0
Total	274	100.0

The Awareness about mental health section was further divided into 4 parts assessing workers’ awareness, stigma, access to healthcare and preferred ways of receiving information about mental health. Overall, the respondents showed a positive attitude towards all questions.

Generally, people believed that mental health is just as important as physical health, they had themselves or heard of someone who had availed mental health services and were open to availing services actively. A vast majority wanted the information related to mental health and services to be disseminated through smartphones and youtube (264 people chose mobile and 174 people chose youtube). Additionally, more people preferred to avail the services in groups instead of individually.

Section 5: Body Pain

Have you at any time during the last 12 months had trouble (ache, pain, discomfort, numbness) in:

Body Parts	Frequency
neck	176
shoulders	128
elbows	103
wrist-hands	76
upper back	150
lower back	139
hips	204
thighs	52
knees	185
ankles	33
feet	22

Have you at any time during the last 12 months been prevented from doing your normal work (at home or at the workplace) because of the trouble?

Response	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	199	73.2	73.2
No	75	26.8	100.0
Total	274	100.0

Have you had trouble with anything during the last 7 days?

Response	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	89	32.4	32.4
No	185	67.6	100.0
Total	274	100.0

Have you been checked by a doctor because of trouble during the last 12 months?

Response	Frequency	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	142	51.8	51.8
No	132	48.2	100.0
Total	274	100.0

This section aimed at understanding the scale of body pain among the workers. When asked to identify parts that had caused them trouble in the last 12 months (from a list of 11 body parts) hips (204 people), neck (176 people), upper back (150 people) and knees (185 people) were the most extensively mentioned.
73.2% people reported that the severity of the body pain was felt so much in the past 12 months, that they were unable to work normally. 51.8% people had been checked by a doctor in the last 12 months however, taking into account the extreme prevalence of body pain, this percentage certainly needs to be increased substantially so as to increase the access to healthcare facilities.

Section 6: Skill Development

Communication

Score	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
.00	1	0.4	0.4	0.4
2.00	3	1.1	1.1	1.5
3.00	131	48.0	48.0	49.5
4.00	92	33.3	33.3	82.8
5.00	41	15.0	15.0	97.8
6.00	6	2.2	2.2	100.0
Total	274	100.0	100.0

Teamwork

Score	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
.00	1	0.4	0.4	0.4
2.00	1	0.4	0.4	0.7
3.00	135	49.5	49.5	50.2
4.00	68	24.5	24.5	74.7
5.00	20	7.3	7.3	82.1
6.00	49	17.9	17.9	100.0
Total	274	100.0	100.0

Time Management

Score	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
.00	1	0.4	0.4	0.4
1.00	1	0.4	0.4	0.7
2.00	102	37.4	37.4	38.1
3.00	99	35.9	35.9	74.0
4.00	66	24.2	24.2	98.2
5.00	5	1.8	1.8	100.0
Total	274	100.0	100.0

Marketing Skills

Score	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
2.00	11	4.0	4.0	4.0
3.00	234	85.3	85.3	89.4
4.00	19	7.0	7.0	96.3
5.00	4	1.5	1.5	97.8
6.00	5	1.8	1.8	99.6
7.00	1	0.4	0.4	100.0
Total	274	100.0	100.0

Adaptability

Score	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
2.00	2	0.7	0.7	0.7
3.00	139	50.9	50.9	51.6
4.00	89	32.6	32.6	84.2
5.00	32	11.4	11.4	95.6
6.00	12	4.4	4.4	100.0
Total	274	100.0	100.0

Decision-making

Score	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
1.00	5	1.8	1.8	1.8
2.00	236	86.1	86.1	87.9
3.00	22	8.1	8.1	96.0
4.00	11	4.0	4.0	100.0
Total	274	100.0	100.0

Financial Literacy

Score	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
4.00	56	20.5	20.5	20.5
5.00	75	27.5	27.5	48.0
6.00	55	20.1	20.1	68.1
7.00	53	19.0	19.0	87.2
8.00	35	12.8	12.8	100.0
Total	274	100.0	100.0

Total

Score	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
16.00	1	0.4	0.4	0.4
19.00	1	0.4	0.4	0.7
20.00	2	0.7	0.7	1.5
21.00	10	3.7	3.7	5.1
22.00	43	15.8	15.8	20.9
23.00	24	8.8	8.8	29.7
24.00	42	15.4	15.4	45.1
25.00	35	12.8	12.8	57.9
26.00	42	15.4	15.4	73.3
27.00	21	7.7	7.7	81.0
28.00	19	7.0	7.0	87.9
29.00	14	5.1	5.1	93.0
30.00	3	1.1	1.1	94.1
31.00	4	1.5	1.5	95.6
32.00	6	2.2	2.2	97.8
33.00	3	1.1	1.1	98.9
35.00	2	0.4	0.4	99.3
36.00	1	0.4	0.4	99.6
38.00	1	0.4	0.4	100.0
Total	274	100.0	100.0

Descriptive Statistics

Skill	N	Range	Minimum	Maximum	Sum	Mean	Std. Deviation
Communication	274	6.00	.00	6.00	1004.00	3.6777	.84808
Teamwork	274	6.00	.00	6.00	1069.00	3.9158	1.16484
Time Management	274	5.00	.00	5.00	788.00	2.8864	.85207
Marketing Skills	274	5.00	2.00	7.00	854.00	3.1282	.61391
Adaptability	274	4.00	2.00	6.00	1004.00	3.6777	.85241
Decision-making	274	3.00	1.00	4.00	585.00	2.1429	.49046
Financial Literacy	274	4.00	4.00	8.00	1573.00	5.7619	1.32221
Total	274	22.00	16.00	38.00	6877.00	25.1905	3.00618

The last section of the survey aimed to understand the level of 7 skills (communication, teamwork, time management, marketing, adaptability, decision-making, and financial literacy) within the participants. A similar pattern emerged in the findings of this section as the section on stress assessment.

All of the sub-sections saw a mean score placed around the middle (communication (3.6777/6), teamwork (3.9158/6), time management (2.8864/5), marketing (3.1282/6, adaptability (3.6777/6), decision-making (2.1429/4) and financial literacy (5.7619/8) and Total (25.1905/41). This highlights the need for skill development which will allow weavers to gain confidence and improve their overall living conditions themselves.