SynthesisBulletin of the World Health Organization2021
Mental health interventions by lay counsellors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 41 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Tele-SSM: A Telephone Technology Innovation in the Intervention on Supported Self-management for Depression in Vietnam
Reducing Procrastination With One-to-One, Lay-Delivered Teletherapy: Protocol for A Mixed-Methods, Waitlist-Controlled Trial
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gendered experiences of people living with tuberculosis or leprosy: A global systematic review.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Pooled it
- How effective are community health workers in managing and preventing perinatal depression in sub-Saharan Africa? A systematic review of quantitative evidence.Health policy and planning · 2026Pooled it
- Public health interventions to improve the mental health and mental health literacy of young people in resource-limited settings: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Acceptability and Feasibility of a Virtual Family-Based Single-Session Intervention for Young Teens at High Risk for Substance Use Disorder: Single-Arm Pilot Trial.JMIR formative research · 2026Trial
- Pilot Randomized Trial of a Supportive Care Intervention for Patients With Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2026Trial
- Effectiveness of a brief group behavioral intervention for common mental disorders in Syrian refugees in Jordan: A randomized controlled trial.PLoS medicine · 2022Trial
- Interventions currently implemented among orphans in South-Africa: a scoping review.SAHARA J : journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Alliance · 2026Article
- Lay Counselor Delivery of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT): A Systematic Review.Journal of child & adolescent trauma · 2026Article
- When to Halt Implementation: Barriers in a Lay Counselor Narrative Exposure Therapy Training Program.Community mental health journal · 2026Article
- Financing Community Mental Health Worker Programs in the United States: Three Paths Forward.Community mental health journal · 2026Article
- Neighborhood Deprivation and Adolescent Mental Health: The Protective Role of School Staffing Patterns.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2026Article
- Regulating Lay Counselor Practice to Safeguard Public Trust in Counseling Psychology in India.Indian journal of psychological medicine · 2026Article
- A qualitative study of young people's experiences of counselling in headspace Denmark as a civic approach to youth mental health.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Feasibility, usability, and acceptability of the asynchronous trauma-focused CARE training program for healthcare providers: a cross-sectional study.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Implementing community health worker-delivered behavioral health models: A primer for healthcare organizations.Translational behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- The effectiveness of Afrislum's expert client-delivered group brief cognitive behavioural therapy model in reducing HIV self-stigma among pregnant adolescent girls and young women living in urban informal settlements of Kampala, Uganda: a quasi-experimental difference-in-difference analysis.The Pan African medical journal · 2026Article
- Delivering low-intensity psychological interventions in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-ethnographic synthesis of lay health workers' experiences.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Review
- Concepts of psychosocial distress and help-seeking preferences among Indigenous adolescents: A qualitative study from Jharkhand, India.PLOS mental 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
- The humanitarian AI paradox: Key opportunities, challenges and research needs for the use of AI in humanitarian mental health response.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the effectiveness of community-based mental health interventions by professionally trained, lay counsellors in low- and middle-income countries.
methodsWe searched PubMed®, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PROSPERO and EBSCO databases and professional section publications of the United States National Center for PTSD for randomized controlled trials of mental health interventions by professionally trained, lay counsellors in low- and middle-income countries published between 2000 and 2019. Studies of interventions by professional mental health workers, medical professionals or community health workers were excluded because there are shortages of these personnel in the study countries. Additional data were obtained from study authors. The primary outcomes were measures of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and alcohol use. To estimate effect size, we used a random-effects meta-analysis model.
findingsWe identified 1072 studies, of which 19 (involving 20 trials and 5612 participants in total) met the inclusion criteria. Hedges'
conclusionThe use of professionally trained, lay counsellors to provide mental health interventions in low- and middle-income countries was associated with significant improvements in mental health symptoms across a range of settings.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.