Support Mental Health Care & Psychosocial Support

Upon the successful completion of the mental health intervention program in local communities, TEWWY focused her efforts towards advocacy and cultivating partnerships that will allow for multisectoral integration of mental health Gap Action Program (mhGAP) as we awaited the second portion of the project to be fulfilled. The psychosocial interventions implemented in Local Governement Authorities (LGAs) proved quite successful for the short period of time the services were provided, with great demand from the residents and community leaders alike. More efforts are also put towards fundraising for the support and sustainable implementation of psychosocial interventions in LGAs, to include building the capacity of and working with community workers i.e. Community Health Workers (CHWs) and Community Outreach Workers (COWs) so as to enhance help-seeking efficacy and reduce stigma and discrimination associated with mental health.

Advocacy is an important means of raising awareness on mental health issues and ensuring that mental health is on the national agenda of governments. Advocacy can lead to improvements in policy, legislation and service development. Part of the advocacy TEWWY is conducting is performing research on current mental health policy and learning how proposed policy changes will affect people with mental illness. With a new mental health committee in effect under the purview of the parliament, the TEWWY team has been identifying policy issues within her scope of work, as we plan numerous lobbying activities with legislators regarding integrating mental healthcare in schools, local communities/social services, harm reduction programs, mining communities, and so forth. 

Prior to lobbying legislators on integrating mental health care in policies with regular service delivery, we have reached out to and are reaching out to more schools that we hope to partner with in providing mental health literacy and promotion as part of their curriculum and/or extra-curricular activities. Among those schools are Aga Khan Mzizima Secondary School and Loyola High School. We have supplied both institutions with mental health question and answer booklets as we collaborate to build on Mental Health Literacy and Mental Health Promotion programs.

In a fundraiser #ShineBrightWithHope by One In An ARMY/BTS ARMY in support of Raise Awareness & Promote Mental Health - Tanzania, $5,956.34 was raised on GlobalGiving's platform; simultaneously, $14,131 was raised on GivenGain's fundraising platform. The funds raised from this fundraiser are used for integrating psychosocial interventions within services provided by local government authorities (LGAs) in Ilala, Kigamboni, Kinondoni, Temeke and Ubungo municipal councils in Dar-es-Salaam. A portion of the funds will be used to train TEWWY's partners in adapting the mhGAP for integration of mental healthcare within their circles (workplaces/life).

Psychosocial interventions in LGAs launched in June 2021 for 15-weeks; where 15 Wisdom&Wellness Counselors positioned across the LGA offices provided mental health services including:

- one-on-one interpersonal counseling

- group talk therapy  (Wisdom&Wellness Circles)

- psychoeducation resources 

- life skills building

- specialist or hospital referral

- survey research

Data from the first 3 months reflect 1,069 clients received interpersonal counseling and 113 clients participated in Wisdom&Wellness Circles.100 clients were referred to specialists in public health institutions (PHIs). The participants were averagely disturbed equally between females and males, with slightly higher participation from the male population. 144 sessions facilitated by Wisdom&Wellness Counselors were supervised. The survey research consisted of two standardized scales—the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the Stress Level Assessment—for depression and stress, and additional multiple-choice and open-ended questions regarding stressors and coping mechanisms.

A majority of participants indicated that their stress/anxiety levels were due to unemployment/financial hardship. Less than half of the participants indicated that they were able to cope adequately with the stress related to the current situation. Most of the clients who were referred to PHIs reported back after revisiting the LGAs for counseling, that they were unable to follow through with the referrals due to financial circumstances. Members of the community are responding very positively to the interventions.

This report does not include data for interventions from the last 3 weeks of service in the LGAs.