Mental Health

LTP CBT program (LTP+) supports enhanced parental awareness of developmental milestones and improvements in school readiness. There is a pictorial calendar for parents which depicts 8 successive stages of CD, from birth to 3 years, & illustrations of parent-child play & other activities that promote parental involvement, learning, and attachment. The calendar is accompanied by a training manual for non-specialist health care providers, with additional information on CD and techniques for conducting group sessions with parents using the calendar as a focus.

IDEA cognitive screen - a culturally adapted dementia screening tool. Post-screening, the IDEA study employed the principles of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST), a non-pharmacological, group treatment for mild to moderate dementia which aims to delay declines in cognition and quality of life through themed activities. Evidence shows that CST can be effectively delivered by non-specialist health care workers, and has the potential to be used as a non-pharmacological and cost effective disease management strategy.

Inuka Hero is a digital chat based coaching product which aims to connect people living with common mental disorders ("CMD"s) in low resource settings to trained coaches (Heroes) who provide support via a mobile interface (e.g. tablet, smartphone). The support provided by the Heroes is based on the Friendship Bench intervention developed by Dixon Chibanda and team at the University of Zimbabwe through funding from Grand Challenges Canada.

Evidence on infant physical care, stimulation and maternal mental health is irrefutable for optimal infant development and wellbeing. However an integrated, standardized and evidence-based package addressing these elements is lacking. World Vision trains Community Health Workers to deliver Timed and Targeted Counselling (ttC) for pregnant women; a home-visitor model providing timely messages about physical health care of mother and child.

A model to train and supervise all actors engaged in humanitarian response to deliver Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) to refugees and members of the host population suffering from common mental disorders and post traumatic stress. The team will develop and test a train-the-trainer and supervision systems for delivery of IPT to health workers working under the Syrian crisis response, as well as implement systematic tracking of adoption/dissemination indicators on the level of provider, supervisor, and organization.

The THRIVE initiative provides individuals with severe mental disorders and their caregivers structured support for employment, livelihoods and financial management services, while emphasizing the notion of solidarity and equal citizenship. The focal point of THRIVE will be dedicated and multi-functional THRIVE centers backed up by a central resource hub.

Problem Management Plus (PM+) is an innovative cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) designed by World Health Organization (WHO) to specifically address common mental disorders at the community level. The World Vision team will work to establish an effective model to train, supervise and compensate community health workers at scale in counties throughout Kenya; embed the PM+ model in existing policy and mental health treatment frameworks; and, test the applicability of PM+ alongside economic empowerment initiatives and for men.

Livelihood Integration for Effective Depression Management (LIFE-DM) aims to address the dual challenges of poverty and depression faced by women in Vietnam by integrating evidence-based treatment for depression management and already existing microfinance services.

Our innovation is transitioning a youth-led ECCE programme called LEAPS (Youth Leaders for Early Childhood Assuring Children are Prepared for School) to scale. The LEAPS programme is a cross-generational strategy supporting learning and development for young children (3.5-6.5 year olds) and female youth (18-24 year olds). In partnership with NCHD, the LEAPS programme recruits and provides vocational training to female youth, referred to as Community Youth Leaders (CYLs) to deliver a community-based preschool programme and a community engagement strategy to catalyse local demand for ECCE.

Group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT-G) is a proven, simple and cost efficient community-based model to treat depression. Under the StrongMinds model, trained Mental Health Facilitators (MHF) lead IPT-G meetings using a structured model over a period of 12-16 weeks to help group members identify and understand the root causes and triggers of their depression, and then to formulate strategies to overcome those triggers.