Mental Health Program Moves Forward with Your Support
Dr. Edith Kwobah shares progress on building East Africa’s first transitional home for patients struggling with mental health challenges.
Years ago, I remember the lady who was left behind when the hospital shut down during a strike by health care workers. All patients and care providers left. But she had nowhere to go. Her mental illness was so stigmatizing that all relatives had disowned her. This lonely woman living with mental illness is one of thousands of Kenyans marginalized because of an illness they did not choose.
At the time of the hospital closing, I was just starting my career and limited in my ability to help. Soon after that experience, I walked into Prof. Joe Mamlin’s office with a one-page concept note on my ideas to research the problem and to take steps to act. I received a small grant from Indiana University’s AMPATH funds to pilot mental healthcare in Mosoriot …and since then we haven't stopped moving!
In Kenya, more than 50 million people have less than 200 psychiatrists to rely on for mental health support. The majority of society doesn’t understand that mental health conditions are illnesses. The critical shortage of trained mental health professionals like me is compounded by limited access to medications and very minimal insurance coverage.
Despite our forward progress, there is still so much need. Sadly, I have seen COVID-19 worsen mental health in our community. The job losses, loss of social support systems due to lock downs and social distancing have affected many people negatively.
Innovative solutions to the mental health care crisis are underway to meet the growing burden of illness. These solutions--together with AMPATH’s comprehensive care model, training and research--hold tremendous promise to make a difference, but are only possible with your help as an AMPATH donor.
One program underway leverages AMPATH’s gains in HIV and diabetes care to educate nurses and clinical officers at AMPATH clinics to recognize mental illnesses such as depression and initiate care. We have trained more than 500 primary care providers already. Your support is needed to reach clinicians at all of AMPATH’s 300+ clinical sites so they too have the tools and knowledge to help people suffering with mental illness.
Additionally, we recently opened the first-of-its-kind transitional home for patients struggling with mental health and addiction in East Africa. The MTRH Nawiri Recovery and Skills Centre provides services including illness management, recovery training, life skills and job-readiness for 16 resident patients and up to 30 non-residential clients. Kenyan healthcare leaders are so excited about the Centre’s promise that there is talk about opening more. But first, we must ensure the success of this first one.
All of AMPATH’s efforts remain responsive to each patient like the woman I will never forget. In mental health, in oncology and in HIV, the patient is at the center of everything we do.
Please, if you can, give your support today, and your gift will be put to work immediately on behalf of those in need of care for mental illness and other diseases.
Asante sana!
Dr. Edith Kwobah