Global Mental Health Program (2017-2018)

Improving mental health of populations around the world is a major societal challenge. One lesson that has been demonstrated repeatedly is that traditional biomedical models of providing mental health and substance abuse services in isolation are not as effective as integration of mental health into other aspects of healthcare and social services, such as maternal and child healthcare, schools, religious institutions and other community organizations.

This project’s goal was to contribute to the next generation of academics, clinicians and other professionals dedicated to advancing integrated approaches to mental health. In 2016-2017, the project team established a Global Mental Health Program (GMHP) and engaged in research within the GMHP labs while also participating in collaborative training seminars.

In 2017-2018, the team extended the GMHP in three core areas: expanding access to treatment, creating appropriate technology and learning new methods. Team members engaged in research at multiple field sites, including in Nairobi, Kenya, where they used a task shifting model to train non-specialists to deliver mental health treatments in problem drinking, family engagement and perinatal depression. The team also refined digital tools for delivering therapy and providing clinical supervision at their field site in Kenya, including by using an artificial intelligence platform and text messaging to deliver a health program to pregnant women and new mothers.

Timing

Fall 2017 – Summer 2018

Team Outputs

Tony V. Pham, Rishav Koirala, Brandon A. Kohrt. "Satisfaction in the Soul: Common Factors Theory Applied to Traditional Healers in Rural Nepal." 2020. Ethos 0(0):1-36.

Leah K. Watson, Bonnie N. Kaiser, Ali M. Giusto, David Ayuku, Eve S. Puffer. “Validating Mental Health Assessment in Kenya Using an Innovative Gold Standard.” 2019. International Journal of Psychology.

Traditional Healers and Mental Health in Dumja (poster by Tony V. Pham, Rishav Koirala, Brandon A. Kohrt, presented at Bass Connections Showcase, Duke University, April 17, 2019)

Eve Puffer, P&N Faculty Seed Grant ($50,000 grant awarded from the Charles Lafitte Foundation and Duke P&N, 2018)

Mental Health Stigma: Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Medical Students and Physicians in Urban Nepal (honors thesis by Meghana Vagwala)

Mental Health Attitudes and Implications for Patient Care: A Qualitative Study of Medical Students and Physicians in Urban Nepal (poster by Meghana Vagwala), presented at Visible Thinking, April 19, 2018

Almost Half the World’s Population Lives in Countries Where, On Average, There Is One Psychiatrist to Serve 200,000 or More People (poster by Eric Green, Eve Puffer, Amy Finnegan, Bonnie Kaiser, Ali Giusto, Elsa Healy, Tony Pham, Puja Patel, Arun Augustine, Bethany Kuerten, Taylor Wall, Julia Kaufman, Meghana Vagwala, Anna-Karin Hess, Lulla Kiwinda, Chaya Bhat, Priya Sridhar), presented at Bass Connections Showcase, April 18, 2018

Tony Pham (M.Sc. Program in Global Health), Bass Connections Follow-on Student Research Award