Through six sessions of therapy, health workers help patients generate solutions to their psychosocial and financial problems, develop coping skills to reduce anxiety, and engage in activities that will assist them in recovering. (2015) … [Read more...] about Get Happy, Get Rich The Relationship Between Depression and Poverty
CHWs and Mental Health
Problem-solving therapy for depression and common mental disorders in Zimbabwe: piloting a task-shifting primary mental health care intervention in a population with a high prevalence of people living with HIV
There is limited evidence that interventions for depression and other common mental disorders (CMD) can be integrated sustainably into primary health care in Africa. We aimed to pilot a low-cost multi-component 'Friendship Bench Intervention' for CMD, locally adapted from problem-solving therapy and delivered by trained and supervised female lay workers to learn if was feasible … [Read more...] about Problem-solving therapy for depression and common mental disorders in Zimbabwe: piloting a task-shifting primary mental health care intervention in a population with a high prevalence of people living with HIV
Task shifting explained: a viable solution to health worker shortage?
Task shifting is a low-cost solution to tackling gaps in health services in the developing world, for example those in HIV and mental health treatment. The need for both is ever present. (2014) … [Read more...] about Task shifting explained: a viable solution to health worker shortage?
Community-based accompaniment and psychosocial health outcomes in HIV-infected adults in Rwanda: a prospective study
We examined whether the addition of community-based accompaniment to Rwanda's national model for antiretroviral treatment (ART) was associated with greater improvements in patients' psychosocial health outcomes during the first year of therapy. We enrolled 610 HIV-infected adults with CD4 cell counts under 350 cells/μL initiating ART in one of two programs. Both programs … [Read more...] about Community-based accompaniment and psychosocial health outcomes in HIV-infected adults in Rwanda: a prospective study
Detection of antenatal depression in rural HIV-affected populations with short and ultrashort versions of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)
Approaches that incorporate CHWs in the detection and management of perinatal mental disorders have shown potential, with research demonstrating the capacity of CHWs to deliver treatment for both HIV (Selke et al. 2010) and maternal depression (Rahman 2005; Rahman et al. 2008). However, actualizing this potential at a larger scale requires short, effective screening measures to … [Read more...] about Detection of antenatal depression in rural HIV-affected populations with short and ultrashort versions of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)