Glob Ment Health (Camb)
November 2024
Youth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) face limited access to professional mental health resources. A comprehensive assessment of the prevalence of mental disorders would build an understanding of the scope of the need. We conducted systematic searches in PsycInfo, Pubmed, AfriBib and Africa Journals Online to identify prevalence rates for five disorders (anxiety, depression, conduct disorder, attention problems and post-traumatic stress) among SSA youth with a mean age of less than 19 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntimate partner violence (IPV) within heterosexual relationships affects both men and women, yet an in-depth description of IPV against men in developing countries is still limited. This study explored community perceptions of male IPV victimization in an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. We conducted 12 focus group discussions (FGDs) with 118 ever-married participants (59 men and 59 women), divided into 6 FGDs for each gender.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The number of people with dementia is on the rise in Kenya and across Africa. Although family carers act as the main providers of dementia care in Kenya, there is still a significant knowledge gap regarding why family members care for someone with dementia. This study explores perceived drivers of care for people with dementia in a rural Kenyan context.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Dementia stigma has adverse effects on people with dementia and their carers. These effects can lead to poor quality of life among other negative impacts.
Objective: The aim of this study is to develop and pilot a novel dementia stigma reduction intervention in rural Kenya, leveraging existing Community Health Workers (CHWs) for its delivery.
Two of every three persons living with dementia reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The projected increase in global dementia rates is expected to affect LMICs disproportionately. However, the majority of global dementia care costs occur in high-income countries (HICs), with dementia research predominantly focusing on HICs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: In Kenya, there is a lack of data on the number of people with dementia. In this article, we aim to estimate the number of community-dwelling older adults (aged 60 years and above) that are potentially living with dementia in rural Kenya.
Methods: Recruitment of older adults occurred through adopting a convenience approach based on the catchment areas served by ten trained community health workers.
This study aimed to understand stigma in relation to people living with dementia in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Critical Narrative Inquiry methodology was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted between January and March 2020 with six people living with dementia and 15 family carers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In Kenya, there is lack of evidence on existing dementia care pathways, with minimal or no presentation for dementia-related symptoms in health care settings. Understanding the services available for people with dementia as well as how communities access the services could offer a practical pattern for policy makers to identify strategies that encourage early detection, care and support for people with dementia and their families.
Objectives: To elucidate initial responses of individuals and their families to dementia and challenges encountered in help seeking through care pathways to inform dementia care-related policies and practice.
Background: There is no Kenyan evidence on the relationship between mental illness and academic performance. We aimed to determine the effect of life skills training on mental health and academic performance.
Methods: We administered to 1848 primary school children a researcher designed socio-demographic questionnaire, and the Youth Self Report (YSR) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to their parents, followed by eight sessions of life skills training.
Postnatal depression is one of the most common mental disorders among postnatal mothers and may have severe consequences for mothers and their children. Locally validated screening tools that can be self- or lay interviewer-administered are required to identify at-risk women, especially in settings with no mental health specialists. This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of a culturally adapted version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in a local dialect (Kamba) in a Kenyan setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: We aimed to explore the perceptions towards dementia and related care across three stakeholder groups in rural Kenya.
Methods: A total of 38 key stakeholders (carers of persons with dementia, health care providers and the general public) participated in focus group discussions. Additional five individual interviews were held with carers.
Background: In order to develop a context appropriate in mental health system, there is a need to document relevant existing resources and practices with a view of identifying existing gaps, challenges and opportunities at baseline for purposes of future monitoring and evaluation of emerging systems. The World Health Organization Assessments Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS) was developed as a suitable tool for this purpose. Our overall objective of this study, around which research questions and specific aims were formulated, was to establish a baseline on mental health system as at the time of the study, at Makueni County in Kenya, using the WHO-AIMS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: To test the effectiveness of a motivational interviewing (MI) intervention using the mobile phone among adults with alcohol use problems.
Design: A randomized clinical trial of mobile MI and standard in-person MI with 1- and 6-month follow-up, including a 1-month waitlist control followed by mobile MI.
Setting: A primary health center in rural Kenya.
Background: A team approach is key to reduction of the mental health treatment gap. It requires collaborative effort of all formal and informal community based service providers and the consumers of the services. Qualitative evaluations of such an approach add value to the quantitative evaluations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: There are more people living with dementia in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) than in high-income countries. Evidence-based interventions to improve the lives of people living with dementia and their carers are needed, but a systematic mapping of methodologically robust studies in LMICs and synthesis of the effectiveness of dementia interventions in these settings is missing.
Methods And Analysis: A systematic review and meta-analysis will be conducted to answer the question: Which dementia interventions were shown to be effective in LMICs and how do they compare to each other? Electronic database searches (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL Plus, Global Health, WHO Global Index Medicus, Virtual Health Library, Cochrane CENTRAL, Social Care Online, BASE, MODEM Toolkit, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) will be complemented by hand searching of reference lists and local knowledge of existing studies from an international network of researchers in dementia from LMICs.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health concern. The prevalence of IPV in women in Kenya is in the range of 41% to 45% but has also been reported in 20% of men. The most widely used instrument for the screening and diagnosis of IPV is the World Health Organization-Intimate Partner Violence (WHO-IPV).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: A significant number of people with common mental disorders are undiagnosed or undetected at primary healthcare facilities. The experience of traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in reassuring perinatal mothers could be utilized in maternal mental healthcare. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the feasibility of integrating TBAs into maternal mental healthcare using multiple stakeholder views.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe aimed to investigate how direct bullying and victimization relate with substance use, the presence of psychiatric disorders, poor school performance, disruptive behaviors, and social problems among secondary school students. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 20 randomly selected mixed-day secondary school students in forms one to three in Machakos County, equivalent to students in grades 1 to 11. From a random starting point, every sixth student in the class was invited to participate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Involvement of traditional health practitioners (THPs) in the form of collaboration with the formal health care system is suggested to improve the pathways to mental health care in Kenya, yet understanding of the current traditional practice and THPs' perspectives is lacking. The aim of this study was to explore the views of THPs with respect to their mental health practice.
Methods: This study qualitatively explored the views of THPs, using four focus group discussions (FDGs) each consisting of 8-10 traditional and faith healers, resulting in a total of 36 participants.
Background: The World Health Organization developed the Mental Health Gap Action Programme Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG) as guidelines for innovative utilization of available resources in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in order to accelerate the reduction of the mental health treatment gap. The mhGAP-IG calls for each country to contextualize the guide to their social, cultural and economic context. The objective of this paper is to describe a model for a stepwise approach for implementation of mhGAP-IG in a rural Kenyan setting using existing formal and informal community resources and health systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The objective of this study was to determine the extent of concordance between positive screens for mental disorders by various trained community-based health workers using the WHO mental health Gap Action Programme Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG) and independently confirmed DSM-IV/ICD-10 diagnoses.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Makueni County, Kenya. 40 nurses/clinical officers, 60 Community Health Workers (CHWs), 51 Faith Healers (FHs), and 59 Traditional Healers (THs) from 20 facilities were trained to screen and refer patients with eight priority mental health conditions using the mhGAP-IG.
Aim: This paper aims at documenting the process of implementing "Kenya Integrated intervention model for Dialogue and Screening to promote children's mental wellbeing (KIDS)", with emphasis on activities, experiences, challenges and lessons learnt through the process that can inform improvement in Kenya and other social-economically and culturally similar settings.
Methods: KIDS aimed at providing early and integrated culturally acceptable intervention to promote child mental health in 6 to 13 year olds, targeting 5429 children in 24 schools. It was a pilot study conducted in 2 administrative counties in Kenya (Machakos and Makueni).
Purpose: This study investigated the epidemiological patterns of mental illness and stigma in community households in Kenya using a cross-sectional community household survey among 846 participants.
Methods: A cross-sectional community household survey was conducted around urban slum (Kangemi) and rural (Kibwezi) selected health facilities in Kenya. All households within the two sites served by the selected health facilities were included in the study.