Common mental disorders (CMDs) are endemic globally. The availability of evidence-based mental health interventions has grown rapidly, with many services focused on psychotherapy. Most psychotherapies require multiple sessions, resulting in …
Depression is common among adolescents, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, such as Ghana. Yet, access to mental health care in these settings remains limited. There is a need for …
The number of positive psychological interventions, including hope interventions to foster well-being and decrease the huge burden of mental conditions, has exponentially increased. Consequently, the number of hope outcome measures …
People who inject drugs (PWID) living with HIV in Vietnam experience a high prevalence of common mental disorders (CMDs), which negatively impact their health, treatment adherence and overall quality of …
Due to the dearth of resources in low- and middle-income countries, the use of culturally appropriate and psychometrically robust screening tools for common mental disorders (CMDs) administrable by lay health …
David Denborough reviews Dixon Chibanda’s (2025) book, The Friendship Bench: How fourteen grandmothers inspired a mental health revolution. New World Library. 240 pp. ISBN 978-1-95583-102-4 (print); 978-1-95583-103-1 (ebook); 978-1-95583-117-8 (audio).
Young people have low uptake of mental health. We compared two task-shifted mental health care models, i.e., adult Friendship Bench (FB) delivered by community health workers and Youth Friendship Bench …
Abstract Common mental disorders (CMDs) are a leading cause of burden and disability globally. Approximately 75% of those living with CMDs reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and up …
Common mental disorders (CMDs) are prevalent among people living with HIV (PWH) and cause morbidity, jeopardize HIV care engagement, and worsen HIV outcomes. In Vietnam, PWH who inject drugs are …
King’s College London hosted a panel of global mental health experts to explore some of the innovative approaches to mental health challenges across Sub-Saharan Africa. Reflecting on the event,…
The psychological experiences and needs of people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who use methadone maintenance treatment and have common mental disorders in Hanoi, Vietnam remain unknown. Due to limited …
Join leading experts for an inspiring talk and panel discussion on the Friendship Bench and African Mental Health Research Initiative.
Adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa are disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic. Comorbid depression is prevalent among adolescents living with HIV (ALWH) and poses numerous challenges to HIV care engagement and …
We utilised a qualitative research design and conducted 32 semi-structured interviews with young people (15-24 years) across high schools and the Friendship Bench (FB) in Harare between 20 December 2022 …
Comorbid depression is common among people living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Malawi and is associated with reduced treatment adherence and increased NCD and depression symptom severity. This bidirectional negative …
Mental disorders are endemic. However, the mental health treatment gap remains high, especially in low-resource settings. Task-shifting is a universally recommended strategy to mitigate the care gap. The Friendship Bench …
We piloted the Friendship Bench-an evidence-based, urban-area task sharing intervention for common mental disorders-in rural Zimbabwe. The intervention combines problem solving therapy with income generating activities. This study sought to …
Depression is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Due to low system capacity, three in four patients with depression in sub-Saharan Africa go untreated. Despite this, …
For people living with co-morbid HIV and common mental disorders (CMD), it is not known whether a brief psychological intervention for CMD can improve HIV viral suppression. We conducted a …
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1017/gmh.2021.3.].