Mental Health

This programme aims to study the impact on Child development parameters at 2 years of age through integrated intervention that will blend the nutrition intervention with parenting program and developing and promoting a social business plan. We will develop 1) ‘A Food Basket’ for pregnant women to ensure nutritional needs during pregnancy and 2) a parenting program aimed at enhancing knowledge and skills of caregiver for positive parenting. Intervention will be managed in close collaboration , support from the departments of public health and women and child development in Government.

BRAC Institute of Educational Development (BIED) will treat postnatal mental health issues in adolescent mothers with infant (age 0-12 months) children belonging to the community of refugees from Myanmar who have come to the Southeast region of Bangladesh fleeing systematic persecution through community based group counselling session on reproductive health, postpartum depression and anxiety, parental stress, psychological tools to address the issues, infant care and play-based stimulation.

Our project aims to develop an innovative low-cost and effective solution to maternal mental health problems in the context of pregnant youth living in adverse conditions in urban areas of a megacity. We plan to develop Motherly, a smartphone app to promote maternal mental health and child development. Motherly app will be visually appealing and provide an engaging user experience with minimalistic layout, enhancing participant engagement.

Konzo is an irreversible neurological disease of sudden onset with permanent partial paralysis in the legs. It is caused by chronic consumption of poorly processed cassava, that has high levels of cyanide, and affects mostly women and children. We are the first group to document neurocognitive affects in konzo, and disease risk in very young children. Brain development is affected much more and at an earlier stage than previously known.

Indigenous children of the Amazon enjoy riches unthinkable in the developed world: the liberty to explore the jungle and experience science-as-curiosity, the joy of collective play, the chance to learn side by side with parents as they paddle, hunt, and garden. Neuroscientific studies show these elements as essential to brain development.Colonial pressures undermine many of these childrearing techniques. Television shows other family models, formal education and social work de-value traditional knowledge, and new diseases raise infant mortality to scandalous levels.

Partners In Health Canada and Partners In Health Rwanda (PIH), in collaboration with the Rwanda Ministry of Health (MOH), propose to establish proof of concept for the cost-effective Pediatric Development Clinic (PDC) model that provides high-risk children surviving the neonatal period with structured follow-up—medical, nutritional, developmental, and social screening and early intervention—within the primary-care system in a coordinated, family-centered manner so these children can reach their full potential.

Saving Brains in Lubulini: A Sustainable Model for ECS draws on evidence-based models offering a sustainable, community-based, integrated package to PMTCT mothers and babies in rural Swaziland (Lubulini), who are among the most vulnerable populations in Africa.

Atmiyata is a two tiered community-led mental health model that develops the capacity of community volunteers (Champions and Mitras) to detect mental disorders, provide counselling to people with common mental disorders (CMDs), and refer those suffering from severe mental illness to primary care services for more specialized care. Mitras are trained to identify persons with mental health distress and link them to the Champions.

A growing body of research has highlighted the critical importance of children’s self-regulation and executive function skills for their school performance as well as for their later life outcomes. Starting around age three, children have a unique potential to improve these skills and establish positive behaviors that will support them in school and life.In this project, we propose to adapt, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the Brain Games intervention package as a tool to improve children’s self-regulation and executive function skills.

Partners In Health Lesotho (PIHL) will pilot the integration of an early childhood development (ECD) intervention into an existing primary care platform across the continuum of facility- and community-based care in a poor, mountainous area of Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho. Mothers and other caregivers will learn parenting behavior and developmental interactions during postnatal clinic visits and home visits by village health workers (VHWs), improving access for this hard-to-reach population.