ArticleInternational journal of mental health systems2019
Delivering maternal mental health through peer volunteers: a 5-year report.
Article in International journal of mental health systems, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Factors affecting the sustainability of community mental health assets: A systematic review.Health & social care in the community · 2022Pooled it
- Effectiveness of therapeutic patient education interventions for chronic diseases: A systematic review and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Cost-effectiveness of a technology-assisted peer-delivered perinatal mental health intervention in Pakistan: an economic evaluation using trial evidence.BMJ global health · 2025Trial
- Technology-assisted cognitive-behavioral therapy for perinatal depression delivered by lived-experience peers: a cluster-randomized noninferiority trial.Nature medicine · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Standardising Training of Nurses in an Evidence-Based Psychosocial Intervention for Perinatal Depression: Randomized Trial of Electronic vs. Face-to-Face Training in China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- The effectiveness of volunteer befriending for improving the quality of life of patients with schizophrenia in Bosnia and Herzegovina - an exploratory randomised controlled trial.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2021Trial
- Effectiveness of a peer-delivered, psychosocial intervention on maternal depression and child development at 3 years postnatal: a cluster randomised trial in Pakistan.The lancet. Psychiatry · 2020Trial
- Bridging Gaps in Perinatal Mental Health: A Review of Peer and Non-specialist Supports for Racially, Ethnically and Culturally Diverse Communities in the U.S.Current psychiatry reports · 2026Review
- Peer-delivered systems-integrated suicide prevention for women in Pakistan: a protocol for hybrid type II pilot cluster randomized controlled trial.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2026Article
- Strategies for spreading, scaling and sustaining perinatal mental health interventions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): A scoping review and thematic synthesis.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Review
- Exploring the delivery of empathic care in task-shared settings: A psychometric study in rural Pakistan.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2025Article
- Feasibility and acceptability of community-based psychosocial interventions delivered by nonspecialists for perinatal common mental disorders: A systematic review using an implementation science framework.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2025Review
- The impact of task-sharing scalable mental health interventions on non-specialist providers: a scoping review.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2024Article
- Peer counseling for perinatal depression in low- and middle-income countries: A scoping review.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2024Article
- Article
- Non-linear associations between HPA axis activity during infancy and mental health difficulties during early childhood among children in rural Pakistan.Development and psychopathology · 2023Article
- Peer-delivered Problem-solving Therapy for Adolescent Mental Health in Kenya: Adaptation for Context and Training of Peer-counselors.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2023Article
- Adaptation and integration of the thinking healthy programme into pregnancy schools in Istanbul, Turkey.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Effects of a maternal psychosocial intervention on hair derived biomarkers of HPA axis function in mothers and children in rural Pakistan.SSM. Mental health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMaternal depression affects one in five women in low-and middle income countries (LMIC) and has significant economic and social impacts. Evidence-based psychosocial interventions delivered by non-specialist health workers are recommended as first-line management of the condition, and recent studies on such interventions from LMIC show promising results. However, lack of human resource to deliver the interventions is a major bottle-neck to scale-up, and much research attention has been devoted to 'task-sharing' initiatives. A
methodsThe study was conducted in rural Rawalpindi. We used mixed methods to evaluate the programme 5 years since its initiation. The competency of the peers in delivering the intervention was evaluated using a specially developed Quality and Competency Checklist, an observational tool used by trainers to rate a group session on key areas of competencies. In-depth interviews explored factors contributing to the peer volunteers' continued motivation and retention, as well as the key challenges faced.
resultsOur key findings are that about 70% of the peer volunteers inducted 5 years ago continued to be part of the programme, retaining their competency in delivering the intervention, with only token financial incentives. Factors contributing to sustained motivation included altruistic aspirations, enhanced social standing in the community, personal benefits to their own mental health, and the possibility for other avenues of employment. Long-term challenges included demotivation due to lack of certainty about the programme's future, increased requirement for financial incentivisation, the logistics of organising groups in the community, and resistance from some families to the need for ongoing care.
conclusionsThe programme, given the sustained motivation and competence of peer volunteers in delivering the intervention, has the potential for long-term sustainability in under-resourced settings and a candidate for scale-up.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.