Assessing the Usage and Usability of a Mental Health Advice Telephone Service in Uganda: Mixed Methods Study.

Background: Harnessing mobile health (mHealth) solutions could improve the delivery of mental health services and mitigate their impact in Uganda and similar low-resource settings. However, successful adoption requires that mHealth solutions have good usability. We have previously implemented a telephone service to provide mental health information and advice in English and Luganda, utilizing an automated interactive voice response (IVR) system linked to live agents, including mental health care workers and peer support workers.

Effects of M-DEPTH Model of Depression Care on Maternal Functioning and Infant Developmental Outcomes in the Six Months Post Delivery: Results from a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

Perinatal depression has been shown to have deleterious effects on maternal post-partum functioning, as well as early child development. However, few studies have documented whether depression care helps to mitigate these effects. We examined the effects of the M-DEPTH (Maternal Depression Treatment in HIV) depression care model (including antidepressants and individual Problem Solving Therapy) on maternal functioning and infant development in the first 6 months post-delivery in an ongoing cluster randomized controlled trial of 391 HIV-infected women with at least mild depressive symptoms enrolled across eight antenatal care clinics in Uganda.

Implementing a Hospital Call Center Service for Mental Health in Uganda: User-Centered Design Approach.

Background: Mental health conditions are a significant public health problem globally, responsible for >8 million deaths per year. In addition, they lead to lost productivity, exacerbate physical illness, and are associated with stigma and human rights violations. Uganda, like many low- and middle-income countries, faces a massive treatment gap for mental health conditions, and numerous sociocultural challenges exacerbate the burden of mental health conditions.

Implementation of peer support for people with severe mental health conditions in high-, middle- and low-income-countries: a theory of change approach.

Background: Stakeholder engagement is essential to the design, implementation and evaluation of complex mental health interventions like peer support. Theory of Change (ToC) is commonly used in global health research to help structure and promote stakeholder engagement throughout the project cycle. Stakeholder insights are especially important in the context of a multi-site trial, in which an intervention may need to be adapted for implementation across very different settings while maintaining fidelity to a core model.