OUR ANCHOR.
RESEARCH
“If we can't measure what we're doing then we really don't know if it's working."
Dixon Chibanda
Friendship Bench Original RCT
2007-2021
3 March 2021
Adolescents living with HIV have poor treatment outcomes, including lower rates of viral suppression, than other age groups. Emerging evidence suggests a connection between...
28 August 2020
Adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) experience a high burden of mental health disorder ...
December 2018
Trained lay health workers reduce common mental disorder symptoms of adults with suicidal ideation in Zimbabwe: A cohort study
Background: Suicidal ideation may lead to deliberate self-harm which increases the risk of death by suicide. Globally, the main cause of deliberate self-harm is depression.
27 December 2016
Depression and anxiety are common mental disorders globally but are rarely recognized or treated in low-income settings.
23 May, 2015
In 2014 close to 10 million people living with HIV (PLWH) in sub-Saharan Africa were on highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART).
13 November 2007
The objective of this study was to develop an indigenous measure of common mental disorders (CMD) in the Shona language in Zimbabwe.
22 April 2021
Adolescents and young people globally are highly vulnerable to poor mental health especially depression, and they account for 36% of new HIV infections in Eastern and Southern Africa...
27 May 2020
Background: There is a dearth of validated tools measuring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in low and middle-income countries in SSA....
December 2018
Background: There is a dearth of validated tools measuring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in low and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
22 July 2016
Psychological interventions for post‐traumatic stress disorder in people living with HIV in Resource poor settings: a systematic review. The Friendship Bench Programme.
Post‐traumatic stress disorder is pervasive in low‐ and middle‐income countries. There is evidence to suggest that post‐traumatic stress disorder
01 July, 2016
We validated three screening tools: the Shona Symptom Questionnaire for common mental disorders (SSQ-14), the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression (PHQ-
23 May, 2015
Common mental disorders (CMD) are a leading cause of disability globally. Emerging...
8 February 2021
There is growing evidence that lay health workers providing counselling is a feasible approach of addressing the universally large treatment gap for mental disorders
10 June 2019
Perceptions of HIV-related trauma in people living with HIV in Zimbabwe’s Friendship Bench Program: A qualitative analysis of counselors’ and clients’ experiences
This study investigated the experience of lay health workers (LHWs) delivering problem-solving therapy (PST) for CMD....
August 2017
Reducing the treatment gap for mental, neurological and substance use disorders in Africa: lessons from the Friendship Bench in Zimbabwe
Mental, neurological and substance use disorders (MNS) are a leading cause of disability in Africa. In response to the large treatment gap for MNS, a growing body of evidence-based treatments...
24 May 2016
There is growing evidence supporting the use of lay health workers (LHWs) ....
29 February, 2016
There is a paucity of data on how to deliver complex interventions that seek to reduce the treatment gap for mental disorders,
07 March 2015
To assess the effectiveness of structured psychological interventions against common mental disorders (CMD) in people living...
2024
Published 18/01/24
Effect of a brief psychological intervention for common mental disorders on HIV viral suppression: A non-randomised controlled study of the Friendship Bench in Zimbabwe
LINK: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001492
2023
Published 16/08/23
Applying the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to Optimize Implementation Strategies for the Friendship Bench Psychological Intervention in Zimbabwe
LINK: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43477-023-00093-4
2022
Published 17/01/22
HeAlth System StrEngThening in four sub-Saharan African countries (ASSET) to achieve high-quality, evidence-informed surgical, maternal and newborn, and primary care: protocol for pre-implementation phase studies
LINK: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16549716.2021.1987044
Published 18/03/22
Barriers to the provision of non-communicable disease care in Zimbabwe: a qualitative study of primary health care nurses
LINK: https://bmcnurs.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12912-022-00841-1
Published 08/07/2022
Adaptation of a Problem-solving Program (Friendship Bench) to Treat Common Mental Disorders Among People Living With HIV and AIDS and on Methadone Maintenance Treatment in Vietnam: Formative Study
LINK: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35802402/
Published 08/2022
A mixed-methods evaluation of Inuka, a Friendship Bench digital mental health intervention in the treatment of common mental health disorders in Zimbabwean adults in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a feasibility and acceptability pilot study.
LINK: https://mental.jmir.org/2022/10/e37968
Published 22/11/2022
Using the RE-AIM framework to evaluate the implementation of scaling-up the Friendship Bench in Zimbabwe – a quantitative observational study
LINK: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08767-9