The African Guide: One Year Impact and Outcomes from the Implementation of a School Mental Health Literacy Curriculum Resource in Tanzania

Kutcher, Stan; Wei, Yifeng; Gilberds, Heather; Brown, Adena; Ubuguyu, Omary; Njau, Tasiana; Sabuni, Norman; Magimba, Ayoub; Perkins, Kevin

doi:10.11114/jets.v5i4.2049

Cited by 29 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…Moreover, a study conducted in South Africa revealed that 94% nurses were not able to correctly recognize various disorders, including schizophrenia (Dirwayi, 2002). Despite some of these concerning statistics, some work is being carried out on enhancing MHL in sub-Saharan Africa, with at least some partial success (e.g., Kutcher et al, 2015Kutcher et al, , 2017Kutcher et al, , 2019.…”

Section: Disorder Recognition: Depression and Schizophreniamentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental health literacy in Ghana: Implications for religiosity, education and stigmatization

Adu

Jurcik

Grigoryev

2021

Transcult Psychiatry

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Research on Mental Health Literacy (MHL) has been growing internationally. However, the beliefs and knowledge of Ghanaians about specific mental disorders have yet to be explored. This vignette study was conducted to explore the relationships between religiosity, education, stigmatization and MHL among Ghanaians using a sample of laypeople (N = 409). The adapted questionnaire presented two vignettes (depression and schizophrenia) about a hypothetical person. The results revealed that more participants were able to recognize depression (47.4%) than schizophrenia (15.9%). Religiosity was not significantly associated with recognition of mental disorders but was positively associated with both social and personal stigma for depression, and negatively associated with personal and perceived stigma for schizophrenia. Moreover, education was found to be positively associated with disorder recognition, and negatively with perceived stigma. Finally, perceived stigma was positively associated with disorder recognition, whereas personal stigma for schizophrenia related negatively to recognition of mental disorders. In conclusion, education but not religiosity predicted identification accuracy, but both predictors were associated with various forms of stigma. Findings from this study have implications for MHL and anti-stigma campaigns in Ghana and other developing countries in the region.

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Section: Disorder Recognition: Depression and Schizophreniamentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental health literacy in Ghana: Implications for religiosity, education and stigmatization

Adu

Jurcik

Grigoryev

2021

Transcult Psychiatry

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“…This includes, for instance, mental health literacy programs provided in specific schools for specific identified staff and/or students. For example, Kutcher, Wei [4] provided a three day mental health literacy training to 61 Tanzanian school teachers via their African Guide. Conversely, the second level at which mental health literacy development can occur is the public health level, which is broader and involves (b1) non-direct contact (e.g., via television and the internet) targeting (b2) the general public rather than specific individuals, via public health campaigns.…”

Section: Two Levels Of Mental Health Literacy Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental health literacy at the public health level in low and middle income countries: An exploratory mixed methods study in Vietnam

et al. 2020

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Purpose Mental health literacy (MHL) is key for mental health development, particularly in low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC) where mental health resources are limited. MHL development can be thought of as occurring at two levels: the individual person level (via direct contact, with specifically-targeted individuals), and the public health level (via indirect contact through public media, targeting the general public). Each approach has advantages and disadvantages. Methods The present mixed methods study assessed the status of and best approaches for development of mental health literacy in the Southeast Asian LMIC Vietnam. Because there has been relatively little discussion of MHL development at the public health level, this assessment focused on the public health level, although not exclusively. Because mental health professionals generally have the most in-depth understanding of their mental health system, study participants were 82 Vietnamese mental health professionals who completed a quantitative survey, with 48 participating in focus groups. Results Most of the professionals viewed MHL in Vietnam as low or very low, and that it was difficult or very difficult for the general public to find effective mental health services. Main barriers underlying these problems and more generally for developing MHL in Vietnam identified in the focus groups were: (a) misinformation in the media regarding mental health and mental illness; (b) lack of licensure for non-medical mental health professionals (e.g., psychologists; social workers); (c) lack of interest in mental health from upper-level leadership. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study assessing professionals’ perceptions regarding mental health literacy at both the public health and individual-person levels. Although sampling was restricted to Vietnamese professionals, results may provide initial preliminary guidance for other LMIC considering mental health literacy development at multiple levels.

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“…Teacher refresher training was conducted about 6 months following initial training. This intervention demonstrated positive impacts with significant, substantial, and sustained improvements in all aspects of teacher’s mental health literacy, including improved knowledge, decreased stigma, and enhanced help-seeking personally and for friends and family members (40) as well as the application of this resource into classroom settings with positive outcomes (41–43).…”

Section: School-based Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Creating Evidence-Based Youth Mental Health Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Description of the Integrated Approach to Addressing the Issue of Youth Depression in Malawi and Tanzania

Kutcher

Perkins²,

Gilberds³

et al. 2019

Front. Psychiatry

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Addressing depression in young people is a health-care policy need in sub-Saharan Africa. There exists poor mental health literacy, high levels of stigma, and weak capacity at the community level to address this health-care need. These challenges are significant barriers to accessing mental health care for depression, soon to be the largest single contributor to the global burden of disease. We here describe an innovative approach that addresses these issues simultaneously while concurrently strengthening key mental health components in existing education and health-care systems as successfully applied in Malawi and replicated in Tanzania. Improving the pathway to care for young people with depression requires the following: improving mental health literacy (MHL) of communities, youth, and teachers; enhancing case identification and linking schools to community health clinics; improving the capacity of community health-care providers to identify, diagnose, and effectively treat depression in youth. Funded by Grand Challenges Canada, we developed and applied a program called “An Integrated Approach to Addressing the Challenge of Depression Among the Youth in Malawi and Tanzania” (IACD). This was an example of, a horizontally integrated pathway to care model designed to be applied in low-resource settings. The model is designed to 1) improve awareness/knowledge of mental health and mental disorders (especially depression) in communities; 2) enhance mental health literacy among youth and teachers within schools; 3) enhance capacity for teachers to identify students with possible depression; 4) create linkages between schools and community health clinics for improved access to mental health care for youth identified with possible depression; and 5) enhance the capacity of community-based health-care providers to identify, diagnose, and effectively treat youth with depression. With the use of interactive, youth-informed weekly radio programs, mental health curriculum training for teachers and peer educators in secondary schools, and a clinical competency training program for community-based health workers, the innovation created a “hub and spoke” model for improving mental health care for young people. Positive results obtained in Malawi and replicated in Tanzania suggest that this approach may provide an effective and potentially sustainable framework for enhancing youth mental health care, thus providing a policy ready framework that can be considered for application in sub-Saharan Africa.

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The African Guide: One Year Impact and Outcomes from the Implementation of a School Mental Health Literacy Curriculum Resource in Tanzania

Cited by 29 publications

References 12 publications

Mental health literacy in Ghana: Implications for religiosity, education and stigmatization

Mental health literacy in Ghana: Implications for religiosity, education and stigmatization

Mental health literacy at the public health level in low and middle income countries: An exploratory mixed methods study in Vietnam

Creating Evidence-Based Youth Mental Health Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Description of the Integrated Approach to Addressing the Issue of Youth Depression in Malawi and Tanzania

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