Youth Got a Friend in Me: Peer-led Interventions to Improve Adolescent Mental Health
February 20, 2024 | 12:00pm - 1:00pm ET
040 Trent Hall, plus Zoom webinar
Category:
Youth Got a Friend in Me: Peer-led Interventions to Improve Adolescent Mental Health
February 20, 2024 | 12:00pm - 1:00pm ET
040 Trent Hall, plus Zoom webinar
Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have far too few trained specialists to address the burden of mental health issues, especially among the region’s growing adolescent population. In the U.S., as well, . the increasing demands for mental health care are stretching the capacity of providers with specialized training. Both in the U.S. and globally, researchers are assessing how non-specialists such as peers can be trained to fill the gap, and many of these interventions are showing promising results. In this Think Global event co-sponsored by DGHI's Center of Global Mental Health; mental health experts and sub-specialists working in Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Kenya will explore the evidence supporting a handful of such interventions, which are being implemented to help address mental health issues such as alcohol dependency and stigma surrounding HIV among adolescents.
SPEAKERS
Dorothy Dow, MD, MSc, is a physician-scientist whose research focuses on prevention and treatment of HIV in pediatric populations including prevention of mother-to-child transmission and adolescent and young adult populations. Her current projects target the intersection of HIV treatment adherence and mental health. She is co-director of the Duke Center For AIDS Research Clinical Core, member of the Adolescent HIV Prevention and Treatment Implementation Science Alliance (called AHISA), co-developer of Sauti ya Vijana (SYV-The Voice of Youth), a peer-led, group based mental health intervention for YLWH in Tanzania, and co-chair of IMPAACT 2016, Evaluating a Group-Based Intervention to Improve Mental Health and ART Adherence Among Youth Living with HIV in Low Resource Settings.
Florence Jaguga MBChB, MMed, holds a Master’s degree in Psychiatry and a Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery degree from Moi University School of Medicine. She is Head of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Rehabilitation Services Department at the Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital. Her expertise includes treatment and prevention of substance use disorders, implementation science research, and policy formulation. Her research work focuses on exploring the feasibility and effectiveness of lay provider delivered mental health and substance use disorder interventions. Dr. Jaguga’s long term career goal is to contribute to improving mental health policy and programs, in Kenya, Africa and globally.
Primrose Nyamayaro, Ph.D., MRes, is a mental health researcher based in Zimbabwe. She is currently the program manager for African Youth in Mind, a research study that is adapting an intervention suitable for youth aged 15 to 24 with depression in Ghana and Zimbabwe. Dr Nyamayaro is passionate about the use of evidence-based interventions in mental health and ensuring they reach everyone.
Eve Puffer, Ph.D., M.A., (moderator) is a global mental health researcher and a licensed clinical psychologist. Her research focuses on developing and evaluating integrated community-based interventions to promote child mental health, improve family functioning, and prevent HIV risk behavior. She has conducted much of this work in rural Kenya. Before joining Duke, Dr. Puffer was a research advisor at the International Rescue Committee conducting evaluations of humanitarian programs in refugee settings. She is an investigator on multiple studies of child mental health and parenting interventions in Thailand, Ethiopia, and Liberia.
This is a hybrid event with both in-person and remote attendance options. Attendance in person is encouraged. Lunch will be available.