mHealth in West Africa: developing an evidence-based psychosocial intervention toolkit

Project Type(s):

Principal Investigator(s):

There is a shortage of skilled mental health providers in Ghana. Due to the prevalence of traditional faith healers, coupled with the established infrastructure that faith healers in Ghana have, global mental health leaders have argued that these paraprofessionals may be leveraged as conduits of basic illness management strategies.

This study aims to: 1) Employ user-centered mixed-method rapid ethnographic data collection strategies to conduct a targeted needs assessment, and 2) Distill and integrate findings from all data sources to identify content and usability requirements for a human-centered, culturally/contextually-informed multi-media mHealth toolkit for healers.

Project Period:
January 1, 2019 — April 20, 2020

Funding Type(s):
Federal

Funder(s):
NIMH/UW ALACRITY Center

Research Program(s):

Geographic Area(s):
Global

Practice Type(s):
Community Mental Health/Health Center/Faith Health Center

Patient Population(s):
Adults

Targeted Condition(s):
Serious Mental Illness