Policy and practice implication of - and tools to address - mental health and psychosocial support needs in Sierra Leone
The last two decades have seen increased awareness of the impact of mental health issues on the population of Sierra Leone. Local capacity to respond to these needs is severely limited. In 2017, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) worked with staff of the College of Medicine and Allied Heal...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-02-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1419448/full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832098686070423552 |
|---|---|
| author | Alastair Ager Rebecca Horn Abdulai Bah Abdulai Bah Haja Wurie Mohamed Samai Mohamed Samai |
| author_facet | Alastair Ager Rebecca Horn Abdulai Bah Abdulai Bah Haja Wurie Mohamed Samai Mohamed Samai |
| author_sort | Alastair Ager |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The last two decades have seen increased awareness of the impact of mental health issues on the population of Sierra Leone. Local capacity to respond to these needs is severely limited. In 2017, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) worked with staff of the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS – part of the University of Sierra Leone) and Queen Margaret University (QMU) in Edinburgh – and other stakeholders, including members of the Mental Health Coalition Sierra Leone – to define a research agenda that would support the development of community-based mental health and systems support in the community. This paper summarizes work over the course of the following six years in relation to this agenda, and indicates its relevance to ongoing and planned service developments. In terms of research advance, studies have – through participatory and ethnographically-informed methods – identified both local idioms and social determinants of distress and mapped health seeking pathways and barriers to care. This information was utilized in the development and validation of two culturally appropriate measures: the Sierra Leone Psychological Distress Scale (to assess mental health and psychosocial needs at the community level) and the Sierra Leone Perinatal Psychological Distress Scale (to identify common perinatal mental disorder in amongst pregnant and lactating mothers). For this latter population, a culturally adapted form of a problem solving intervention delivered through existing mother-to-mother supports has been shown to be feasible, acceptable and potentially effective. This work has major policy and practice implications, and early evidence of uptake is noted. This includes mental health capacity development through the online availability of training guides for the developed assessment scales and plans for incorporation of material regarding idioms and social determinants of distress in pre-and post-professional training curriculum. In terms of community-based initiatives, there has been evidence of uptake from the Mental Health Coalition Sierra Leone. In terms of policy, findings reinforce key principles regarding community-based provision, integration of mental health care into primary health care, and actions to reduce stigma associated with mental health. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-34eba13a2178471fba9fe4bb82d47066 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-0640 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj-art-34eba13a2178471fba9fe4bb82d470662025-02-05T09:31:49ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402025-02-011610.3389/fpsyt.2025.14194481419448Policy and practice implication of - and tools to address - mental health and psychosocial support needs in Sierra LeoneAlastair Ager0Rebecca Horn1Abdulai Bah2Abdulai Bah3Haja Wurie4Mohamed Samai5Mohamed Samai6NIHR Research Unit on Health in Situations of Fragilty, Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, United KingdomNIHR Research Unit on Health in Situations of Fragilty, Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, United KingdomNIHR Research Unit on Health in Situations of Fragilty, Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, United KingdomNIHR Research Unit on Health in Situations of Fragility, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra LeoneNIHR Research Unit on Health in Situations of Fragility, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra LeoneNIHR Research Unit on Health in Situations of Fragility, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra LeoneMinistry of Health and Sanitation, Freetown, Sierra LeoneThe last two decades have seen increased awareness of the impact of mental health issues on the population of Sierra Leone. Local capacity to respond to these needs is severely limited. In 2017, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) worked with staff of the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS – part of the University of Sierra Leone) and Queen Margaret University (QMU) in Edinburgh – and other stakeholders, including members of the Mental Health Coalition Sierra Leone – to define a research agenda that would support the development of community-based mental health and systems support in the community. This paper summarizes work over the course of the following six years in relation to this agenda, and indicates its relevance to ongoing and planned service developments. In terms of research advance, studies have – through participatory and ethnographically-informed methods – identified both local idioms and social determinants of distress and mapped health seeking pathways and barriers to care. This information was utilized in the development and validation of two culturally appropriate measures: the Sierra Leone Psychological Distress Scale (to assess mental health and psychosocial needs at the community level) and the Sierra Leone Perinatal Psychological Distress Scale (to identify common perinatal mental disorder in amongst pregnant and lactating mothers). For this latter population, a culturally adapted form of a problem solving intervention delivered through existing mother-to-mother supports has been shown to be feasible, acceptable and potentially effective. This work has major policy and practice implications, and early evidence of uptake is noted. This includes mental health capacity development through the online availability of training guides for the developed assessment scales and plans for incorporation of material regarding idioms and social determinants of distress in pre-and post-professional training curriculum. In terms of community-based initiatives, there has been evidence of uptake from the Mental Health Coalition Sierra Leone. In terms of policy, findings reinforce key principles regarding community-based provision, integration of mental health care into primary health care, and actions to reduce stigma associated with mental health.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1419448/fullmental healthpolicyculturepsychometric measurementpsychological assessmentimpact |
| spellingShingle | Alastair Ager Rebecca Horn Abdulai Bah Abdulai Bah Haja Wurie Mohamed Samai Mohamed Samai Policy and practice implication of - and tools to address - mental health and psychosocial support needs in Sierra Leone Frontiers in Psychiatry mental health policy culture psychometric measurement psychological assessment impact |
| title | Policy and practice implication of - and tools to address - mental health and psychosocial support needs in Sierra Leone |
| title_full | Policy and practice implication of - and tools to address - mental health and psychosocial support needs in Sierra Leone |
| title_fullStr | Policy and practice implication of - and tools to address - mental health and psychosocial support needs in Sierra Leone |
| title_full_unstemmed | Policy and practice implication of - and tools to address - mental health and psychosocial support needs in Sierra Leone |
| title_short | Policy and practice implication of - and tools to address - mental health and psychosocial support needs in Sierra Leone |
| title_sort | policy and practice implication of and tools to address mental health and psychosocial support needs in sierra leone |
| topic | mental health policy culture psychometric measurement psychological assessment impact |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1419448/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alastairager policyandpracticeimplicationofandtoolstoaddressmentalhealthandpsychosocialsupportneedsinsierraleone AT rebeccahorn policyandpracticeimplicationofandtoolstoaddressmentalhealthandpsychosocialsupportneedsinsierraleone AT abdulaibah policyandpracticeimplicationofandtoolstoaddressmentalhealthandpsychosocialsupportneedsinsierraleone AT abdulaibah policyandpracticeimplicationofandtoolstoaddressmentalhealthandpsychosocialsupportneedsinsierraleone AT hajawurie policyandpracticeimplicationofandtoolstoaddressmentalhealthandpsychosocialsupportneedsinsierraleone AT mohamedsamai policyandpracticeimplicationofandtoolstoaddressmentalhealthandpsychosocialsupportneedsinsierraleone AT mohamedsamai policyandpracticeimplicationofandtoolstoaddressmentalhealthandpsychosocialsupportneedsinsierraleone |