ArticleGlobal mental health (Cambridge, England)2021
A community health volunteer delivered problem-solving therapy mobile application based on the Friendship Bench 'Inuka Coaching' in Kenya: A pilot cohort study.
Article in Global mental health (Cambridge, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The effectiveness of mental health interventions involving non-specialists and digital technology in low-and middle-income countries - a systematic review.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Acceptability of an Integrated Model of Mental Health and PrEP Service Delivery for South African Adolescent Girls: Qualitative Results from a Pilot Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Randomized Trial.AIDS and behavior · 2026Trial
- Piloting a Digital App Based on the Friendship Bench for Depression and Anxiety in Palestine: Mixed Methods Study.JMIR mental health · 2026Article
- Suicide literacy in The Gambia.Discover mental health · 2026Review
- Adaptation of Inuka coaching problem-solving therapy to support mental health and HIV medication adherence among status-neutral men who have sex with men in South Africa.International health · 2026Article
- A qualitative study assessing the acceptability of a multi-agent AI Chatbot for providing HIV and mental health support among men who have sex with men and transgender women in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · 2026Article
- Perspectives on enhancing peer support services for mothers living with HIV in Kenya: A qualitative assessment of Mentor Mothers and the mothers they serve.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Use of digital health in task-sharing for prevention and management of non-communicable diseases in Africa: A scoping review.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- An evaluation of non-specialist training and delivery of a brief cognitive-behavioral therapy-based transdiagnostic intervention for adolescents with depression and anxiety in Nairobi, Kenya.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- Validation of Shona Symptom Questionnaire (SSQ-14), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) in Unguja Island, Zanzibar.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Risk factors for PrEP and ART medication adherence challenges in cis-gender South African men who have sex with men in Johannesburg and Pretoria.International health · 2025Article
- Integrating a mental health intervention into PrEP services for South African young women: a human-centred implementation research approach to intervention development.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2024Article
- 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
- A scoping review of counseling interventions for suicide prevention in Africa: Few studies address this life-saving aspect of mental health treatment.Journal of affective disorders · 2023Article
- Validation of a culturally sensitive, Swahili-translated instrument to assess suicide risk among adults living with HIV in Tanzania.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2023Article
- Erratum: A community health volunteer delivered problem-solving therapy mobile application based on the Friendship Bench 'Inuka Coaching' in Kenya: A pilot cohort study - CORRIGENDUM.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2023Article
- A Digital Mental Health Intervention (Inuka) for Common Mental Health Disorders in Zimbabwean Adults in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Feasibility and Acceptability Pilot Study.JMIR mental health · 2022Article
- Cultural adaptation of psychological interventions for people with mental disorders delivered by lay health workers in Africa: scoping review and expert consultation.International journal of mental health systems · 2022Article
- Digital Solutions for Community and Primary Health Workers: Lessons From Implementations in Africa.Frontiers in digital health · 2022Review
- Improving mental health literacy using web- or app-based interventions: A scoping review.Digital healthArticle
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the largest care gap for common mental disorders (CMDs) globally, heralding the use of cost-cutting approaches such as task-shifting and digital technologies as viable approaches for expanding the mental health workforce. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a problem-solving therapy (PST) intervention that is delivered by community health volunteers (CHVs) through a mobile application called 'Inuka coaching' in Kenya.
methodsA pilot prospective cohort study recruited participants from 18 health centres in Kenya. People who self-screened were eligible if they scored 8 or higher on the Self-Reporting Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20), were aged 18 years or older, conversant in written and spoken English, and familiar with the use of smart mobile devices. The intervention consisted of four PST mobile application chat-sessions delivered by CHVs. CMD measures were administered at baseline, 4-weeks (post-treatment), and at 3-months follow-up assessment.
resultsIn all, 80 participants consented to the study, of which 60 participants (female,
conclusionTo our knowledge, this report is the first to pilot a PST intervention that is delivered by CHVs through a locally developed mobile application in Kenya, to which clinically meaningful improvements were found. However, a randomised-controlled trial is required to robustly evaluate this intervention.
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