IDEAS for Hope: Research Focused on Improving Mental Health in Tanzania

The team has received news that the abstract titled “Twenty Years of Neglecting Suicidal Ideation in Africa with Insufficient Interventions: A Systematic Review” was accepted to the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Convention 2022.  Srishti Sardana will be traveling to New York City in November to present findings of the systematic review.

The team conducted a systematic review on counseling interventions focused on suicide prevention among adults living in Africa.  There was very few studies found in this area, particularly those using evidence-based interventions for suicide prevention and those with suicide prevention as their primary outcome.  The review findings are vital for informing policy, research, and health care, including investment in the development, implementation, and scale-up of new suicide prevention interventions.

When asked about the significance of this review, Srishti responded with the following statement: “This is the first systematic review to examine prevention and intervention of the most tragic outcome of adversity — suicide – plan, ideas, and method — in the African continent.  It sheds light on the chronic gaps in the mental health policy and practice in the region, and serves as a call to action for reform to develop and disseminate culturally valid and contextually safe and appropriate suicide prevention and intervention programs.”

Three of our team members have made amazing strides in the last month.

Congratulations to team member Ismail Amiri!  Ismail has been accepted to the Master of Science in Global Health program at Duke University with a full academic scholarship.  He will be relocating to Durham, North Carolina in August to pursue his studies, and will continue to support the IDEAS for Hope team by assisting in developing our telehealth intervention for suicide prevention among people living with HIV. Ismail’s long-term goal is to pursue doctoral studies in the mental health field.

Alyssa Martinez graduated from the MSc in Global Health program at Duke University this May.  She will be pursuing a career in global mental health and has hopes of continuing to work in Tanzania.

Judith Mwobobia just completed her first year of MSc Global Health studies at Duke University this May. Over the next few months, she will be joining the Tanzanian team for fieldwork on the cancer stigma study before embarking on her second year of studies at Duke.

The IDEAS team has recently received news that the abstract titled “Telehealth to prevent suicide in Tanzanian HIV clinics: Perspectives of mental health professionals” was accepted for the 2022 APA Convention.  Alyssa Martinez will be traveling to Minneapolis, Minnesota in August to present this research.

The presentation will cover the in-depth qualitative interviews that were conducted with mental health workers in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania in November of 2021.  The goal of this research was to explore the potential for using telehealth to connect affected individuals to vital suicide prevention counseling in Tanzanian HIV care.  The interviews were extremely informative and each participant provided invaluable feedback on the IDEAS intervention.

Dr. Brandon Knettel was featured as the Blue Devil of the Week: 

https://today.duke.edu/2022/01/blue-devil-week-tending-mental-health-side-fighting-physical-diseases?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Blue%20Devil%20of%20the%20Week&utm_campaign=WatDukeEmma

To learn about previous work on HIV stigma in the Kilimanjaro Region including members of this team and led by Drs. Melissa Watt and Blandina Mmbaga, go to https://sites.duke.edu/pmtct/

On November 9th, 2021 the IDEAS for Hope research team held an implementation meeting at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre.   Key implementing partners attended the meeting from various hospitals and health centers throughout the Kilimanjaro region.  Implementing partners consisted of mental health nurses, HIV nurses, psychiatrists, and other health care workers. The team presented background information on the issue of concern, suicidality among people living with HIV, and introduced the IDEAS study to key partners.  The Tanzanian experts shared their perspectives and experiences throughout the presentation, which gave the team insight into the realities of suicidality in Kilimanjaro.  Some of the questions asked throughout the presentation were:

1. What are your experiences with suicidality among people living with HIV?
2. Does the study feel like something the HIV clinic staff would accept and appreciate?  How do we improve this?

After a very productive large group discussion, attendees got into “breakout groups” with a member of the research team to answer more detailed questions related to the acceptability and feasibility of the telehealth intervention.  Topics of discussion included:

1. How do we reduce suicidal thinking and help people stay safe? Build hope? Encourage strong engagement with HIV care?
2. Telehealth is a fairly new model for treatment in Tanzania.  How do we make sure this is a success?
3. What will this look like in the future?  How can we incorporate this in normal care?

The attendees provided extremely valuable feedback that will be useful in formulating the details of the IDEAS intervention.